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LIFE AND REMINISCENCES 



OF 



GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

BY 

DISTINGUISHED MEN OF HIS TIME. 

EX-PRESIDENT HAYES, GEN. O. O. HOWARD, HON. GEO. W. CHILDS, 

GEN. HENRY SLOCUM, GEN. HORATIO C. KING, SENATOR 

MANDERSON, HON. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW, ADMIRAL 

PORTER, GENERAL HORACE PORTER, SENATOR 

HAWLEY, HON. THOMAS C. FLETCHER, 

REV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE, D.D. 

L 



: tt/< 



IIvIvUSTRATKD. 



BALTIMORE : 

R. H. WOODWARD COMPANY. 

1891. 



.$55- R, a 



o.-ma. 



COPYRIGHTED, 1 89 1 
BY R. H. WOODWARD & CO. 



■■ 7 '^ ? ^^ 



Bedicatioiu 



TO THE 

SURVIVING SOI.DIERS 

O^ THE ARMIES OF GENERAL SHERMAN. 

TO YOU IS DEDICATED THIS MEMORIAI. VOLIBlE 

OF YOUR HONORED AND MUCH-LOVED LEADER, 

WILLIAM TEQUMSEH SHERMAN, 

THE SOLDIER, BRAVE, HONEST AND TRUE, 

UNDER WHOM YOU FOUGHT SO NOBLY 

AND WON SO GLORIOUSLY IN 

THAT MEMORABLE 

CONFLICT OF 

1861-65. 



CONTENTS 



LIFE- 

PAGE 

His Life) Before the War i 

During the War 19 

After the War 66 

His Life in New York 78 

His Humorous Side 95 

His Last Sickness 'and Death no 

The Funerai. 126 

His Character 199 



REMINISCENCES AND TfllBUTES. 

By Horatio G. King 253 

By George W. Chii^ds 272 

By Generai, O. "O. Howard 287 

By Mr. Hiram Hitchcock 295 

By Admirai, Porter 301 

By Generat. Horace Porter 303 

By the Editors 320 

ix 



X 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

By Hon. Chauncey M. Depew 323 

By President Harrison 334 

By Rev. T. DeWitt Tai^mage, D.D 336 

By Coi^onei. George A. Knight 338 

By Generai. Henry W. Si<ocum 346 

By Senator Morgan 350 

By Senator Hawi^ey 354 

By Hon. Cari, Schurz 355 

By Ex-President Hayes 356 

By Hon. Chari^es F. Manderson 359 



APPENDIX. 

Oi,D Times in Cawfornia 375 

Grant, Thomas, Lee 398 

Our Army and Mieitia 432 

Camp-Fires of the G. a. R 455 

Response of Generae Sherman 468 

Sherman on Longstreet 476 



INTRODUCTION 



TT WHATEVER history preserves of what a man said 
• ' and what he did forms the basis of the opinion 
that posterity gathers of him. History will carry to 
coming generations the evidences of the military genius 
of General Sherman and the far-reaching and great 
breadth of his mind. His marches and battles and tri- 
umphs and speeches and letters will do all this, but that is 
not all that should be preserved to carry into coming time 
a knowledge of what manner of man this patriot, hero, 
brainy American was. I write of him of my personal 
knowledge. He was capable of preserving the calmest 
demeanor under circumstances provocative of the greatest 
excitement ; his friendship, freely given to all whom he 
thought deserving, was always intense. If he had dis- 
likes he did not manifest or speak of them, unless in de- 
fence of his self-respect. In all the years in which I was 
honored with his familiar association, I do not recall an 
instance of hearing him speak unkindly of any one, but 
he always had a word of commendation for all who de- 
served it. He never grumbled. He was eminently a just 



xi V INTR OD UCTION. 

man — liberal in all things, but would resent and resist 
vigorously the smallest infringement on his rights as a 
man, or any unjust exaction of him on the part of any 
one, he cared not who. He never shirked or dodged 
any responsibility, as witness the facts of the battle of 
Chickasaw Bayou, 29th December, 1862. 

Genl. Morgan reported to him that he had bridged the 
bayou, whereas, in fact, he had only bridged a small 
lateral bayou ; he reported to him that there was nothing 
between our troops and the hills, when the bayou, wide 
and deep, and an abattis almost impassable lay before 
us. I reconnoitered the situation and reported it to Genl. 
Blair, and Blair, in my presence, reported it to Morgan, 
and yet Morgan assured Genl. Sherman that he would 
be on the hills in ten minutes after the firing of the sig- 
nal-guns for the charge, and misled him in every ma- 
terial fact as to the situation. The disastrous charge 
raised a howl against Genl. Sherman all along the line of 
that great army of stay-at-home army critics, and yet the 
. brave and generous soldier wrote : *' I assume all respon- 
sibility and attach fault to no one;" and there it stands 
on the official records of the Republic. 

McClernand was sent to relieve him of his command 
and brought him the first intelligence he had that Genl. 
Grant had lost his base of supplies at Holly Springs, and 
had to fall back, thereby being prevented from co-oper- 
ating with him at Chickasaw Bayou, and allowing Pem- 



INTRO D UCTION. x v 

berton to re-enforce Vicksburg. McClernand assumed 
command, Sherman's army was divided into two corps, 
he was given command of one and Morgan of the other. 

Of all his army Genl. Sherman was the only man who 
was not heard vigorously protesting against his treat- 
ment; he never murmured, but went right on. He could 
wait on slow-paced reason to demonstrate the truth by 
the aid of time, and yet in war he seemed to act from the 
inspirations of genius that waits not on anything. 

In readiness of apprehension, quickness of perception 
of facts and conclusion as to course in an emergency and 
rapidity of execution, he excelled any officers of his time. 

Annuall)^, ever since the war, we have met with the 
society of the Army of the Tennessee, meeting at all the 
cities and principal towns of the great valley. He de- 
lighted in our meetings; hundreds and thousands of the 
old soldiers greeted him on all occasions; for every one 
he had a kind word of earnest inquiry, as tp his present 
condition in life, his family, etc. He was our president for 
about twenty years. He dispatched the business of the 
society promptly, rapidly and with little regard to parlia- 
mentary law or rules ; he properly regarded formality of 
proceedings as unnecessary, and went right at it and put 
it through. He enjoyed our songs. "The Sword of 
Bunker Hill " and " Old Shady " were two of his favor- 
ites. He was a model toast-master, and his speeches, 
preserved in the volumes of our proceedings, are remark- 



xvi INTRODUCTION. 

able for brevity, point and appropriateness. He had the 
keenest appreciation of humor, and always encouraged 
the class of speeches that drew forth the heartiest laugh. 
He lived with us in St. Louis. I had the honor to ad- 
minister to him the obligation of a comrade of the Grand 
Army of the Republic. I shall never forget the expres- 
sion of uncertainty or doubt which his face wore until I 
reached that portion of it which pledged his honor as a 
soldier to honor the Constitution of our country, obey its 
laws, defend the Union and uphold the flag of our coun- 
try as the emblem of liberty, equal rights and national 
unity ; then he straightened himself to his full height 
and his face lighted with a halo of patriotic fire, he vigor- 
ously nodded his assent and repeated it in an emphatic 
tone. We buried him there. The whole mass of people 
there knew and loved him. The old soldiers took up 
the line of march to follow him in death as they had 
done in life. The old Confederate soldiers, too, fell 
in and marched with the great procession ; a half million 
of people, of every party, sect and nationality — men, 
women and children — stood uncovered, and thousands 
wept as the cortege moved to the cemetery, all moved 
by a feeling not only that he was the greatest military 
chieftain at his death in all the world, but because he was 
esteemed by them as a kind-hearted, social, benevolent 
friend, whom they had learned to love in their social 
contact with him. Thos. C. Fletcher. 



LIFE OF GEN. WET. SHERMAN. 



CHAPTER I. 

HIS LIFE BEFORE THE WAR. 

^^ILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN was 
born Feb. 8th, 1820, at Lancaster, Fairfield 
County, Ohio. It Is an Interesting coincidence 
that the two great Union soldiers who first suc- 
cessively rose to the full rank of General were 
born in the same State of Ohio, and that there 
also Sheridan, the third and only other Union 
soldier who reached that exalted grade, passed 
all his boyhood from infancy, his home being only 
a few miles distant from the birth-place of Sher- 
man. 

William's paternal ancestor, Samuel Sherman, 
emigrated to America In 1635, only thirteen years 
behind the *' Mayflower." He was a strict Puritan 



2 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

and a man of a strong character. He settled at 
first in Stratford, Conn., and afterward became 
one of the original proprietors of Woodbury, 
Conn. 

Daniel Sherman, one of his descendants, be- 
came a member of the Committee of Safety In 
Connecticut during the War of the Revolution, 
and served for sixty-five consecutive sessions, or 
thirty-two and a half years, as the representative 
of his native town in the General Assembly of 
Connecticut. His son, Taylor Sherman, a lawyer 
and afterward Judge, w^as the General's grand- 
father. Charles R. Sherman, William's father, 
took to the same profession, but went to Ohio to 
practice it in 1810, making the little town of Lan- 
caster his home. He was made Judge of the 
Supreme Court in 1823, and died while on the 
Bench in 1829 in Lebanon, leaving six sons, to 
the two elder, of whom fell the task of supporting 
the mother and younger children. 

In 1829, when William was but nine years old, 
his father suddenly died, and the Hon. Thomas 
Ewing, a leading member of the bar, residing in 
Lancaster, who two years afterward represented 



HIS LIFE BEFORE THE WAR. 8 

Ohio In the United States Senate, adopted young 
" Cump," as the bright-looking youngster is said 
to have been then famlHarly known, and took care 
that he should be well educated in the schools of 
Lancaster until his sixteenth year. Then It was 
not difficult for him to provide a cadetship at 
West Point for his young charge. Entering the 
Military Academy in 1836, Cadet Sherman was 
graduated in 1840, sixth In his class; and that 
class contained another very famous soldier, 
George H. Thomas, besides Ewell, Getty and 
others. 

He beat General Grant In the race for scholar- 
ship, especially In engineering, which was a favor- 
ite study with him; but he always sighed and 
frowned over an Ill-concealed chuckle as he con- 
fessed that he was not a Sunday-school cadet, for 
he stood No. 124 in the relative standard for good 
behavior, while Grant was near the foot as No. 
149. But Sherman graduated No. 6 In his class, 
in 1840, when the final distribution of honors was 
made, while Grant three years later could not 
beat No. 21. All of which shows that West Point 
and War do not always make the same records. 



4 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

Assigned to the Third Artillery as a Second 
Lieutenant, he saw service in Florida, and his 
promotion to be First Lieutenant came in 
1 841. The following year his company was 
stationed at Fort Morgan and soon after was 
transferred to Fort Moultrie, in Charleston Har- 
bor, where there was plenty of hospitable society, 
with out-door amusements in hunting and fishing. 
There the opening of the Mexican war in 1846 
found him, in the company commanded by Cap- 
tain Robert Anderson. He was first assigned to 
recruiting duty at the North and finally to Com- 
pany F of his regiment, then under orders for Cali- 
fornia by way of Cape Horn. He reached Mon- 
terey Bay early in January, 1847, after a voyage 
of 198 days from New York. The description 
of his impressions of California and of his exper- 
ience there forms one of the most picturesque 
and Interesting portions of the General's mem- 
oirs. He says : 

" At that time Monterey was our headquarters. 
Colonel Mason, First Dragoons was an officer of 
great experience, of stern character, deemed by 
some harsh and severe, but in all my intercourse 



HIS LIFE BEFORE THE WAR. 6 

With him he was kind and agreeable. He had a 
large fund of good sense, and during our long 
period of service together I enjoyed his unlimited 
confidence. He had been in his day a splendid 
shot and hunter, and often entertained me with 
characteristic anecdotes of Taylor, Twiggs, Worth, 
Horner, Martin Scott, etc., etc., who were then 
in Mexico gaining a national fame. California 
had settled down to a condition of absolute re- 
pose, and we naturally repined at fate, at our be- 
ing so far away from the war in Mexico, in which 
our comrades were reaping large honors. Mason 
lived in a house not far from the Custom House. 
I had a small adobe house. Halleck and Dr. 
Murray had a small log house not far off." 



" I spent much time in hunting deer and bear 
in the mountains back of Carmell Mission, and 
ducks and geese in the plains of Salinas. As 
soon as the Fall rains set in, the young oats would 
spring up, and myriads of ducks, brants and 
geese made their appearance. In a single day I 
could load a pack-mule with ducks and geese. 



6 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

" The seasons are well marked In California. 
About October and November the rains begin, 
and the whole country is covered with bright 
green grass, with endless flowers. The interval 
between the rains gave the finest weather possi- 
ble. The rains are less frequent in March, and 
cease altogether in April and May, when gradually 
the grass dies, and the whole aspect of things 
changes, first yellow, then brown, and by mid-sum- 
mer all is as dried up and burnt as an ash-heap. 

"During the Fall of 1848, Warner, Ord and I 
camped on the bank of the American River at the 
breast of the fort, known as the * Old Tan Yard,' 
I cleaned up the dishes, Warner looked after the 
horses, Ord was scullion; but Ord was deposed as 
scullion, because he would only wipe the tin plates 
with the turf of grass, according to the custom of 
the country, whereas Warner insisted on having 
them washed after each meal with hot water. 
Warner was in consequence promoted to scullion, 
and Ord became hostler. We drew our rations 
from Commissary at San Francisco, who sent them 
up the river by boat, and we were enabled 
to dispense generous hospitality to many a poor 



HIS LIFE BEFORE THE WAR, 7 

devil who otherwise would have had nodiing 
to eat. 



" On the next day we crossed over the Santa 
Cruz Mountains, from which we had a sublime 
view of the scenery first looking east towards the 
Lower Bay of San Francisco with the bright plain 
of Santa Clara and San Jose, and then west to 
the ocean, the town of Monterey being visible 
sixty miles off We beheld" from its mountains 
the firing of a salute from the battery of Monterey, 
and counted the number of guns from the white 
puffs of smoke, but could not hear the sound. 
That night we slept on piles of wheat in a mill at 
Saquel. We made an early start the next morn- 
ing, as our rations had about given out. By nine 
o'clock we reached a ranch. It was a high point 
of the plateau, on which were foraging many horses 
and cattle. The house was an adobe with a long 
range of adobe huts occupied by semi-civil- 
ized Indians, who at that time did all of the labor 
of a ranch. Ever^^thing about the house looked 
deserted, and seeing an Indian boy leaning against 



8 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

a post I approached him, and asked in Spanish, 
'Where is- the Master?' 'Gone to Presidio' 
(Monterey). ^ Is anybody in the house ? ' 'No.' 
*Have you any meat?' 'No.' 'Any flour or 
grain?' * No.' 'Any chickens ?' 'No.' 'What 
do you live on ? ' ' Nada ' (nothing). The utter 
indifference of this boy, and the tone of his an- 
swers attracted the attention of Colonel Mason, 
who had been listening to our conversation, and 
who knew enough of Spanish to catch the mean- 
ing, and he exclaimed with some feeling, ' So we 
get nada for our breakfast.' I felt mortified, for I 
had held out a prospect of a splendid breakfast 
of meal, tortillas with rice, chicken, eggs, etc., at 
the ranch of my friend, Jose Antonio, as a justifi- 
cation for taking the Governor, a man of sixty 
years of age, more than twenty miles, at a full 
canter for his breakfast. But there was no help 
for it, and we accordingly went a short distance to 
a pond, where we unpacked our mules, and made a 
slim breakfast on a hard piece of bread, and a bone 
of pork that remained in our alforjas. This was 
no uncommon thing in those days, when many 
a ranchman, with his eleven leagues of land, his 



HIS LIFE BEFORE THE WAR. 9 

hundreds of horses and catde, would receive us 
with the grandiloquence of a Spanish lord, and 
confess that he had nothing to eat except the car- 
cass of the beef hung up, from which the stranger 
might cut and cook without money or without 
price. 

" All the missions and houses at that period were 
alive with fleas, which the natives looked on as 
pleasant, titillators, but they so tortured me that 
I always gave them a wide berth, and slept on a 
saddle-blanket, with the saddle for a pillow and 
the blanket for a cover. 



"As the spring and summer, 1848, advanced, 
the reports came faster and faster from the gold- 
mines at Sutter's Mills. Stories were told us of 
fabulous discoveries. Everybody was talking of 
'gold! gold!!' until it assumed the character of 
a fever. Some of our soldiers began to desert, 
ci^zens were fitting out trains of wagons and pack- 
mules to go to the mines. We heard of men 
earning fifty, five hundred and one thousand dol- 
lars a day, and for a time it seemed as if some 



10 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

one would reach solid gold. I of course could 
not escape die infecdon, and at last convinced 
Colonel Mason that it was our duty to go up, and * 
see with our own eyes, that we might report to 
our Government. As yet we had no regular mail 
to any part of the United States, but mails had 
come to us at long intervals around Cape Horn, 
and one or two overland. I well remember the 
first overland mail. It was brought by Kit Carson 
in saddle-baors from Toas in New Mexico. We 
heard of his arrival at Los Angeles and waited 
patiently for his arrival at headquarters. His fame 
was at its height, from publications of Fremont's 
books, and I was very anxious to see a man who 
had achieved such feats of daring among wild 
animals of the Rocky Mountains, and still wilder 
Indians of the plains. At last his arrival was re- 
ported at the tavern at Monterey, and I hurried 
to hunt him up. I cannot express my surprise at 
beholding a small, stoop-shouldered man, with 
reddish hair, freckled face, soft blue eyes, and 
nothing to indicate extraordinary daring or cour- 
age. He spoke but little and ansv/ered in mono- 
syllables. I asked for his mail, and he picked up the 



HIS LIFE BEFORE THE WAR. 11 

saddle-bags containing the great overland mail, 
and he walked to headquarters and delivered the 
parcel into Colonel Mason's own hands. He told 
us something of his personal history. He was 
then by commission a lieutenant in the regiment 
of Mountain Rifles serving in Mexico, and as he 
could not reach his regiment from California, 
Colonel Mason ordered that he be assigned for a 
time to duty with A. J. Smith's company, First 
Dragoons, Los Anf^eles. He remained several 
months at Los Angeles, and was then sent back 
to the United States with dispatches, traveling two 
thousand miles alone in preference to being en- 
cumbered by a large party." 

In speaking of San Francisco, he says: "The 
rains were heavy and the mud fearful. I have 
seen mules stumble In the street and drown in 
liquid mud. Montgomery Street had been filled 
up with bushes and clay, and I always dreaded to 
ride horseback, because the mud was so deep 
that the horse's legs would become entangled 
in the bushes below and the rider would likely 
be thrown and be drowned in the mud. The 
only sidewalks were made of stepping-stones of 



12 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

empty boxes and here and there with a few 
barrel staves nailed on. Gambling was the 
chief occupation of the people. While they 
were waiting for cessation of the rainy season, 
all sorts of houses were put up, but of the most 
flimsy kind. Any room twenty by sixty feet 
would rent for one thousand dollars a month. I 
had as my pay seventy dollars a month, and no 
one would try to hire a servant under three 
hundred dollars a month. Had It not been 
for the fifteen hundred dollars that I had saved, 
I could not have possibly lived through the 
winter." 

Sherman acted as Adjutant-General successively 
to General S. W. Kearney, Colonel Mason and 
General Persifer F. Smith. But while this tour of 
duty gave the young lieutenant a novel and most 
interesting experience and the brevet of captain, 
it kept him out of the fighting in Mexico and 
doubtless may have led to that withdrawal from 
military to civil life which he soon afterward re- 
solved upon. 

In 1850 he returned from California with dis- 
patches for the War Department, and after visiting 



HIS LIFE BEFORE THE WAR. IS 

his mother at Mansfield, in Ohio^ was married at 
Washington, on the ist of May, to Miss Ellen 
Boyle Ewing, daughter of the Hon. Thomas 
Ewing, who was then Secretary of the Inte- 
rior. He had been formally engaged for some 
years, and, indeed, his correspondence with her, 
which contains some of the most interesting 
details now known of his earlier life, had been 
continued all through his career at West Point. 
The marriage ceremony was attended by a very 
distinguished assembly, including the President 
and all his Cabinet. During the following Sep- 
tember he was made a captain in the Commissary 
Department and was ordered to take post at . St. 
Louis. 

In the fall of 1853 Captain Sherman, seeing lit- 
tle prospect of advancement in the army, and 
having made business acquaintances in St. Louis, 
resigned his commission so as to become manager 
of a branch bank to be established by Lucas, 
Turner & Co., of St. Louis, in San Francisco. In 
the latter city, accordingly, his life for the three or 
four years following was passed, and during that 
period he had plenty of opportunity to witness the 



14 LIFE OF GENERAL IVM. T. SHERMAN. 

operation of the Vigilance Committee. The unset- 
tled state of business, however, eventually made it 
expedient to close the branch bank, and this was 
done on May i, 1857. Captain Sherman then pro- 
ceeded with his family by way of the Isthmus to New 
York, where he again became a financial agent of 
the St. Louis firm, which had changed its name to 
James H. Lucas & Co. But this new arrange- 
ment was still more speedily broken up by the 
suspension of the St. Louis house. The settle- 
ment of its affairs carried Sherman again to San 
Francisco, and thence he returned to Lancaster, 
the family home. 

The question then arose, as General Sherman 
put it with his accustomed frankness, " What was 
I to do to support my family, consisting of a wife 
and four children, all accustomed to more than 
the average comforts of life ? " It happened that 
two of Mr. Ewing's sons had established them- 
selves at Leavenworth, where they and their father 
had bought a good deal of land, and where they 
were practicing law. They offered to take him in 
as a partner, and the law firm of Sherman & 
Ewing was duly announced. It is curious to note 



HIS LIFE BEFORE THE WAR. 15 

among the letters which he had written from Fort 
Moultrie, fifteen years before, one which explains 
that he had been devoting much time to reading 

o o 

law, and that he had gone through all four volumes 
of Blackstone, Starkie on Evidence, aiid other 
books. "I have no idea," he had written, " of mak- 
ing the law a profession, but as an officer of the 
army it is my duty and interest to be prepared 
for any situation that fortune or luck may offer. 
It is for this alone that I prepare, and not for pro- 
fessional practice." No doubt even this slender 
acquaintance with the law was cherished by the 
soldier under these later circumstances ; still, he 
purposed to give his attention mainly to collections 
and to such general business as his banking ex- 
perience would justify. However, after taking in 
still another partner, the firm became rather over- 
grown for the amount of profitable business which 
It could secure, and In 1859 Sherman wrote to 
Major Don Carlos Buell, in the War Department, 
to see if there was any way for him to re-enter 
the military service as a paymaster or otherwise. 
Major Buell sent him the programme of a State 
military academy about to be organized at Alex- 



16 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

andria, In Louisiana, and advised him to apply for 
the place of superintendent. His application was 
at once made and was successful, although at that 
time the Hon. John Sherman was a candidate for 
Speaker in the House of Representatives at 
Washington, and was regarded in some parts of 
the South as an " abolition " candidate. The 
academy was opened early in i860, but, practi- 
cally, very little was done that . year, while the 
omens of the approaching civil war soon made it 
doubtful whether the superintendent would ever 
have much to do at all. In fact, with his accus- 
tomed vigor and promptness he wrote this letter, 
on January 18, 1861, to the Governor of the State : 

**Sir: As I occupy a quasi-military position 
under this State, I deem it proper to acquaint you 
that I accepted such a position when Louisiana 
was a State in the Union, and when the motto 
of the seminary. Inserted in marble over the 
main door, was: 'By the liberality of the General 
Government of the United States: the Union — 
Esto PerpetuaJ 

'' Recent events foreshadow a great change, and 



HIS LIFE BEFORE THE WAR, 17 

it becomes all men to choose. If Louisiana 
withdraws from the Federal Union, I prefer to 
maintain my allegiance to the old Constitution as 
long as a fragment of it survives, and my longer 
stay here would be wrong in every sense of the 
word. And, furthermore, as President of the 
Board of Supervisors, I beg you to take im- 
mediate steps to relieve me as Superintendent 
the moment the State determines to secede, for 
on no earthly account will I do any act or think 
any thought hostile to or in defiance of the old 
Government of the United States." 

In accepting his resignation the Supervisors 
thanked the Superintendent for his efficiency, 
giving him also "assurances of our high per- 
sonal regard," and the Academic Board also 
passed a resolution declaring that " they can- 
not fail to appreciate the manliness of character 
which has always marked the actions of Colonel 
Sherman," and that " he is personally endeared 
to many of them as a friend." 

On returning North, his old friends Major 

Turner and Mr. Lucas secured for him the office 
2 



18 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

of President of the Fifth Street Railroad in 
St. Louis at a salary of $2500, and this he 
accepted, beginning the discharge of his duties 
April I, 1861. Five days later Montgomery Blair 
offered him the chief clerkship of the War 
Department, with a promise of making him 
Assistant Secretary of War on the meeting of 
Congress. But he declined, giving as a reason 
that he had "accepted a place in this company, 
have rented a house, and incurred other obli- 
gations." He added that he " wished the 
administration all success in its almost impossible 
task of governing this distracted and anarchical 
people." 



CHAPTER II. 

DURING THE WAR. 

OHERMAN, however, could not be happy from 
the tap of the drum. About May i, 1861, 
he signified to Secretary Cameron that he would 
be glad to serve in the war, which had now been 
made certain by bombardment of Fort Sumter, 
and on the 14th of May, 1861, he was appointed 
colonel of the Thirteenth Infantry. 

The Secretary of War first received him coldly, 
saying that he thought the ebullition of feeling 
would soon subside. Even President Lincoln did 
not then believe that the nation would be plunged 
into Civil War. 

"Humph!" said Sherman, in his blunt way, 
"you might as well try to put out a fire with a 
squirt gun as expect to put down this Rebellion 
with three months' troops." 

He refused to go to Ohio for the purpose of 
raising three months' troops, declaring that the 

19 



20 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

whole military power of the country should be 
called out at once to crush the Rebellion in its 
incipiency. Well would it have been if his advice 
had been taken. It was worthy of consideration, 
for his residence in Louisiana had given him an 
inkling of the tremendous feeling in the South — a 
feeling which the authorities at Washington did 
not fully appreciate. 

As stated, he was put in charge of the Third 
Brigade of Tyler's division in McDowell's army, 
which was at that time goaded into premature 
action with the cry of '' On to Richmond ! " His 
brigade comprised the Thirteenth New York, 
Colonel Quimby; the Sixty-ninth, Colonel Cor- 
coran, and the Seventy-ninth, Colonel Cameron, 
and also the Second Wisconsin ; and to these 
Ayres' Battery was joined. With this brigade 
he took an active part in the battle of Bull Run, 
and it is interesting to note in General Sherman's 
report how some of the traits of this eminent 
soldier were visible on his earliest field. *^ Early 
In the day," he says, " when reconnoitering the 
ground, I had seen a horseman descend from the 
bluff In our front, cross the stream, and show 



DURING THE' WAR. 21 

himself In the open field on this side, and, infer- 
ring that we could cross over at the same point, 
I sent forward a company as skirmishers and 
followed with the whole brigade, the New York 
Sixty-ninth leading." Sherman's brigade in that 
action reported iii killed, 205 wounded, and 293 
missing. 

For his soldierly qualities in this battle he was 
promoted to the rank of brigadier-general ot 
volunteers, and was ordered to join Anderson, 
the hero of Sumter, who was in command of the 
Department of the Ohio, widi headquarters at 
Louisville. General Anderson's ill health forced 
him to resign, and Sherman succeeded to the 
command. 

During a visit of Secretary Cameron to the 
West General Sherman astonished him by de- 
claring that it would take 60,000 men to drive 
the enemy out of Kentucky and 200,000 to finish 
the war in that section. This declaration and 
other evidences of prescience, coupled with his 
nervous, energetic manner, actually caused the 
report to spread that Sherman was crazy ; and 
such a charge was made in some of the news- 



22 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

papers. Viewed in the light of history, his esti- 
mates are seen to have been anything but those 
of an excited imagination. Many times 200,000 
men were required for the Western campaigns. 
But a very unfavorable impression had undoubt- 
edly been created by this declaration of the needs 
of the West. Soon afterward General Buell re- 
lieved him from the command of the department, 
and Sherman was put in charge of the camp of 
instruction at St. Louis. 

Grant, who still had his spurs to win, stood by 
Sherman In this opinion, and the latter never for- 
got it. One day, shortly after the occupation of 
Savannah by Sherman, a prominent civilian ap- 
proached him and sought to win favor by 
disparaging Grant. 

" It won't do, sir," said Sherman. " It won't do 
at all. Grant is a great general. He stood by 
me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when 
he was drunk, and now, by thunder, sir, we stand 
by each other ! " 

Early in 1862 the movement in Tennessee be- 
gan, which resulted in the surrender of Fort 
Henry and Fort Donelson to General Grant, fol- 



DURING THE WAR. 23 

lowed by the advance of the Army of the Ten- 
nessee toward Corinth. Sherman was assigned 
to the command of a division in that army, and 
the early days of April found him established at 
Pittsburgh Landing, or rather a few miles dis- 
tant, at Shiloh Church. While there the three 
advance divisions of Grant's army, those of 
Sherman, Prentiss and McClernand, were un- 
expectedly attacked by the Confederate forces 
under the command of Albert Sidney Johnston. 
A great battle at once resulted — the greatest, up 
to that date, ever known on this continent. 
The leading divisions of Grant were pressed back 
toward the others at Pittsburgh Landing. At that 
point, however, the Union forces had artillery 
in position, while reinforcements from Buell's 
Army of the Ohio were coming upon the field. 
The Confederate commander was mortally 
wounded, and his successor had been unable to 
drive the Union troops into the river when night 
came. The next day the fortunes of the field 
were reversed, and the two armies of Grant and 
Buell, united under the former, drove the Con- 
federates back toward Corinth, In this tre- 



24 LIFE OF GENERAL JVM. T. SHERMAN. 

mendous battle, lasting two days, the Union 
losses were 13,573, about 9600 being killed or 
wounded, and the total Confederate loss was 
10,699. General Sherman's division lost 2034, of 
whom 318 were killed and 1275 wounded. In 
his official report on that action General Grant 
says : " I feel it a duty to a gallant and able of- 
ficer, Briaadier-General W. T. Sherman, to make 
mention that he was not only with his command 
during the entire two days of action, but dis- 
played great judgment and skill in the manage- 
ment of his men. Although severely wounded 
in the hand on the first day, his place was never 
vacant." Still more emphatically, and with his 
accustomed generosity to favorite subordinates. 
Grant said : " To his individual efforts I am in- 
debted for the success of that battle." General 
Halleck reported that " Sherman saved the for- 
tunes of the day on the 6th and contributed large- 
ly to the glorious victory on the 7th." 

Halleck, having now assumed command of the 
combined armies, spaded his way laboriously 
toward Corinth, and when he arrived there the 
enemy evacuated it. During this advance Sher- 



DURING THE WAR. 25 

man's division had important duties to perform, 
and its commander was no longer called crazy. 
In fact, he was made a Major-General of Volun- 
teers from May i, 1862, and was also put in 
charge of Grand Junction, and then of the im- 
portant city of Memphis, which the naval forces 
had captured. At Memphis he took vigorous 
measures for preventing the trade in cotton from 
being used for the good of the Confederate cause. 

The summer of 1862 was passed in completely 
overrunning and subjecting that portion of Ten- 
nessee lying west of the Tennessee River. Sher- 
man moved at the head of a column across the 
country toward Memphis. The city capitulated 
to the gunboats on June 6th, and Sherman occu- 
pied it and assumed command July 22d. 

He found the city under a reign of terror, but 
his strong arm soon brought order out of chaos. 
The turbulent element was quelled and Union 
people in the city once more breathed free. 

PI.AN OF THE PERPENDICULAR LINE. 

An interesting glimpse into Sherman's scheme 
of campaign was given by him in a speech deliv- 



26 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

ered In St. Louis In the summer of 1865. "Here 
in St. Louis, probably," he said, "began the great 
centre movement which terminated the war; a 
battle-field such as never before was seen, extend- 
ing from ocean to ocean almost with the right wing 
and the left wing; and from the centre here. I 
remember one evening, up In the old Planters' 
House, sitting with General Halleck and General 
Cullum, and we were talking about this, that and 
the other. A map was on the table, and I was 
explaining the position of the troops of the enemy 
in Kentucky when I came to this State. 

"General Halleck knew well the position here, 
and I remember well the question he asked me — 
the question of the school-teacher to his child — 
'Sherman, here is the hne; how will you break 
that line?' 'Physically, by a perpendicular force.' 
* Where is the perpendicular?' 'The line of the 
Tennessee River.' General Halleck is the author 
of that first beginning, and I give him credit for It 
with pleasure. Laying down his pencil upon the 
map, he said, 'There Is the line and we must take 
it.' The capture of the fort on the Tennessee 
River by the troops led by Grant followed. 



DURING THE WAR. -27 

"These were the grand strategic features of that 
first movement, and it succeeded perfectly. Gen- 
eral Halleck's plan went further — not to stop at 
his first line, which ran through Columbus, Bowl- 
ing Green, crossing the river at Henry and Don- 
elson, but to push on to the second line, which ran 
through Memphis and Charleston; but troubles 
intervened at Nashville and delays followed; op- 
position to the last movement was made, and I 
myself was brought an actor on the scene. I re- 
member our ascent on the Tennessee River; I 
have seen to-night captains of steamboats who 
first went with us there; storms came and we did 
not reach the point we desired. At that time 
General C. F. Smith was in command. He was 
a man indeed. All the old officers remember him 
as a gallant and elegant officer, and had he lived 
probably some of us younger fellows would not 
have attained our present positions. 

"We followed the line — the second line — and 
then came the landlnor of forces at Pittsburgh 
Landing. Whether it was mistake in landing them 
on the west instead of the east bank it is not nec- 
essary now to discuss. I think it was not a mis- 



28' LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

take. There was gathered the first great army of 
the West, commencing with only 1 2,000, then 20,- 
000, then 30,000, and we had about 38,000 In that 
battle, and all I claim for that is that it was a con- 
test for manhood. There was no strategy. Grant 
was there and others of us, all young at that time, 
and unknown men, but our enemy w^as old, and 
Sidney Johnson, whom all the officers remem- 
bered as a power among the old officers, high 
above Grant, myself or anybody else, led the en- 
emy on that battle-field and I almost wonder how 
we conquered. But, .as I remarked, it was a con- 
test for manhood — man to man — soldier to soldier. 
We fought and we held our ground, and there- 
fore accounted ourselves victorious. From that 
time forward we had with us the prestige; that 
battle was worth millions and millions to us by 
reason of the fact of the courage displayed by the 
brave soldiers on that occasion, and from that time 
to this I never heard of the first want of courage 
on the part of our Northern soldiers." 

Sherman counted the war virtually ended when 
Vicksburg was taken and "the Mississippi ran 
unvexed to the sea," but the Confederates would 



DURING THF WAR, 29 

not have it so, and there had to be more fighting. 
Jefferson Davis had the Southerners well trained 
and he refijsed to ratify the work of the Union 
armies. 

MOVEMENTS AGAINST VICKSBURG. 

In November Sherman was assigned to the 
command of the right wing of the Army of the 
Tennessee, and conducted an expedition threat- 
ening the enemy's rear south of the Tallahatchie 
River, and enabled General Grant to occupy the 
position without a fight. In December he — hav- 
ing returned to Memphis — was assigned to the 
command of the Fifteenth Army Corps, still con- 
tinuing, however, in the general command of the 
right wing of the army. In the middle of the 
same month he organized an expedition com- 
posed of the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Corps and 
moved down the Mississippi on transports, with 
a view to an attack upon VIcksburg from the 
Yazoo River, near Chickasaw Bayou and Haines' 
Bluff. The surrender of Holly Springs, Miss., 
enabling the enemy to concentrate at the point 
of attack, frustrated the efforts of the Union 
troops. 



30 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

The terrible fighting of December 27th, 28th 
and 29th settled the fact that the place could not 
be taken by storm, and the troops were with- 
drawn to consummate the glorious victory of 
Arkansas Post, in January, 1863. In this last 
action General Sherman was subordinate to Gen- 
eral McClellan, having been assigned by that 
officer to the command of the right wing of the 
temporary Army of the Mississippi. Upon the 
concentration of troops preparatory to further 
movements against Vicksburg General Sherman 
was stationed with his corps in the vicinity of 
Young s Point. In March, 1863, he conducted the 
expedition up Steele's bayou and released Admi- 
ral Porter's fleet of gunboats, which, having been 
cut off and invested by the enemy, was in Immi- 
nent danger of being captured. This expedition 
was, perhaps, one of the most severe ever experi- 
enced by his troops. They penetrated through a 
country cut up by numerous and deep bayous and 
swamps and overgrown by immense forests of 
Cottonwood and cypress. Sherman, with his 
usual determination, was not to be thwarted, and 
pushed ahead and accomplished his object. 



DURING THE WAR, 31 

ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE. 

Upon the inauguration of General Grant's 
movement across the Peninsula to Grand Gulf 
and Bruinsburg, during April, 1863, General 
Sherman made a feint upon Haines' Bluff, on the 
Yazoo River. His demonstration (April 28th 
and 29th) was intended to hold the enemy about 
Vicksburg while the main army was securing a 
foothold on the eastern shore of the Mississippi 
below. Having successfully performed this duty, 
by means of rapid and forced marches he moved 
down the Louisiana side of the river, crossed at 
Grand Gulf and immediately pushed forward and 
rejoined General Grant's main army. 

Sherman, with his corps, accompanied McPher- 
son on his movement against Jackson, the capital 
of Mississippi. In the battle of Jackson Sher- 
man took no prominent part, in consequence of 
the rout of the enemy being effected by Mc- 
Pherson's corps alone. The day after the battle 
McPherson hurried towards Baker's Creek, while 
Sherman remained in Jackson some hours longer 
to complete the destruction of the enemy's stores 



82 LIFE OF GENERAL JVM T. SHERMAN, 

and the railroad. He then moved on a line 
parallel with the route of march of McPherson's 
column, crossed the Big Black River and took 
possession of Walnut Hills, near Vicksburg, on 
May i8th. The occupation of this important 
position enabled General Grant to open com- 
munication with his depots of supplies on the 
Mississippi River, by way of Yazoo River from 
Chickasaw bayou. During the siege of Vicks- 
burg, Sherman's corps held the left of General 
Grant's lines and co-operated in all the combined 
attacks of the centre and right. During the 
conference between the rebel commander Pem- 
berton and General Grant in regard to the terms 
of capitulation for the garrison and city of Vicks- 
burg Sherman was vigorously engaged in 
organizing an expedition at the Big Black River. 
No sooner had Vicksburg surrendered than he 
received orders to throw his force across the 
river and move out into the country. Vicksburg 
was occupied on the morning of the 4th of July. 
The same afternoon troops were converging 
from all parts of the old lines, and Sherman's 
advance had already crossed the Big Black. 



DURING THE WAR, 33 

Two days' march found Sherman Investing 
Joe Johnson In Jackson. Before the beginning 
of August he engaged the enemy, and, defeating 
him severely, was about to close In upon his 
rear when the rebel commander very prudently 
withdrew. 

For his great service In the military operations 
of 1863 Major-General Sherman was promoted 
to the rank of a brigadier-general In the regular 
army, to date from July 4, 1863, and was con- 
firmed by the United States Senate February 29, 
1864. 

HE SUCCEEDS GRANT. 

Upon the assignment of General Grant to the 
command of the military division of the Miss- 
issippi General Sherman succeeded, by authority 
of the President, to the command of the Depart- 
ment and Army of the Tennessee, to date from 
October 27, 1863. After making some necessary 
changes in the disposition of the troops on the 
Mississippi River Sherman concentrated portions 
of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Corps at Corinth, 
and In the month of November moved, by way 

of Tuscumbia and Decatur, Ala., to join and 
3 



34 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

participate with General Grant In his winter 
campaign against Chattanooga. General Sher- 
man's forces moved up the north side of the 
Tennessee River, and during the nights of 
November 23 and 24 established pontoon bridges 
and effected a lodgment on the south side, 
between Citico Creek and the Chickamauga 
River. 

After the development of the plans along other 
portions of the lines on the 24th Sherman carried 
the eastern end of Missionary Ridge up to the 
tunnel. On the next day the whole of Mission- 
ary Ridge, from Rossvllle to the Chickamauga, 
was carried after a series of desperate struggles. 
By the turning of the enemy's right and forcing 
it back upon Ringgold and Dalton, Sherman's 
forces were thrown between Bragg and Long- 
street, completely severing the enemy's lines. 
No sooner was this end reached than Thomas 
and Hooker forced Bragg into Georgia, while 
Sherman, with his own and Granger's forces, 
moved off to the succor of Knoxville. Burnslde, 
by a gallant defence of the position, held out 
against Longstreet, who, upon the appearance of 



DURING THE WAR. 35 

Sherman, was obliged to raise the siege and 
effected his escape by withdrawing into Virginia. 
The enemy being defeated at every point, his 
army broken and his plans completely dis- 
arranged, and Grant's army in winter-quarters, 
General Sherman personally left for Cairo, thence 
for Memphis, arriving in the beginning of 
January. After organizing a portion of the 
Sixteenth Corps for the field he despatched it 
upon transports to Vicksburg. 

PUSHES ON TO VICKSBURG. 

In the latter part of the month he joined it 
and finished the organization of a fine body of 
troops, composed of portions of the Sixteenth" 
Army Corps, Major-General S. A. Hurlbut com- 
manding, and the Seventeenth Army Corps, 
Major-General James B. McPherson command- 
ing. 

On the 3d of February the expeditionary 
army, commanded in person by Sherman, crossed 
the Big Black, and after continuous skirmishing 
along the route, entered Meridian, Miss., 
February 14, 1864, driving Polk, with a portion 



36 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

of his army, toward Mobile, another portion 
toward Selma, and completely cutting off Lovell 
from the main army, pursuing him with cavalry 
northward toward Marlon. Remaining In 
possession of Meridian four days, the railroads 
converging there were destroyed within a radius 
of twenty miles. The army then returned by a 
different route, reaching Canton, Miss., February 
26th. Turning over the command of his army 
to Mcpherson, with Instructions to devastate 
the country and then to continue the return 
march to Vicksburg, General Sherman, at eight 
o'clock the next morning, escorted by the Second 
Iowa Cavalry, pushed through In advance of the 
•army, riding over sixty miles In twenty-four 
hours, and reached Vicksburg on the morning 
of February 28th. Remaining in the city but 
a few hours, he embarked on one of the boats 
of the Mississippi Marine brigade and left for 
New Orleans. 

At the expiration of ten days he returned to 
Vicksburg, having, during his absence, consulted 
with General Banks upon the Red River expe- 
dition, toward which he was to contribute a co- 



DURING THE WAR, 37 

operating column. This force was immediately 
organized and equipped, and embarked in March 
for the mouth of Red River, and was commanded 
by Generals A. J. Smith and Thomas Kilby 
Smith, both veteran officers of large experience 
and ability. Sherman now left for Memphis. 

ON TO ATLANTA. 

Early In 1864 General Grant was made Lieu- 
tenant-General and assumed command of all the 
armies of the United States. Immediately on re- 
ceiving this promotion, with characteristic gener- 
osity, he wrote as follows to Sherman: 

"While I have been eminently successful in this 
war, in at least gaining the confidence of the pub- 
lic, no one feels more than I how much of this 
success is due to the energy, skill, and the harmo- 
nious putting forth of that energy and skill, of 
those whom it has been my good fortune to have 
occupying subordinate positions under me. 

"There are many officers to whom these re- 
marks are applicable to a greater or less degree, 
proportionate to their ability as soldiers; but what 
I want is to express my thanks to you and Mc- 
Pherson, as the men to whom above all others I 



38 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN, 

feel indebted for whatever I have had of success. 
How far your advice and suggestions have been 
of assistance you know. How far your execution 
of whatever has been given you to do entitles you 
to the reward I am receiving you cannot know as 
well as I do. I feel all the gratitude this letter 
would express, giving it the most flattering con- 
struction." 

The reply of General Sherman to what he well 
called a "characteristic and more than kind" letter 
is worth quoting in part, to show the relations 
which existed between these two eminent soldiers: 

"I repeat, you do General McPherson and my- 
self too much honor. At Belmont you manifested 
your traits, neither of us being near; at Donelson 
also you illustrated your whole character. I was 
not near, and General McPherson was in too su- 
bordinate a capacity to influence you. 

''Until you had won Donelson, I confess I was 
almost cowed by the terrible array of anarchical 
elements that presented themselves at every point; 
but that victory admitted the ray of light which I 
have followed ever since. 

**I believe you are as brave, patriotic, and just 



DURING THE WAR. 39 

as the great prototype Washington; as unselfish, 
kind-hearted and honest as a man should be; but 
the chief characteristic In your nature Is the simple 
faith In success you have always manifested, which 
I can liken to nothing else than the faith a Chris- 
tian has In his Saviour." 

He Immediately left for Nashville and held a 
conference with General Grant upon the subject 
of the spring operations. Between the two offi- 
cers there was a full and complete understanding 
of the policy and plans for the ensuing campaign, 
which was designed to embrace a vast area of 
country. On the 25th General Sherman com- 
menced a tour of Inspection of the various armies 
of his command, visiting Athens, Decatur, Hunts- 
vllle and Larkln's Ferry, Ala.; Chattanooga, Lou- 
don and Knoxville, Tenn. 

Under the plan of campaign then arranged 
General Grant was to conduct personally the oper- 
ations of the Army of the Potomac against Lee In 
Virginia, while Sherman, to whom was given the 
command of the military Division of the Missis- 
sippi, comprising the entire Western region, was 
to proceed against Bragg^s army at Dalton, which 



40 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

had now been placed under General Johnston. 
Sherman, who had meanwhile received the thanks 
of Congress for his services at Chattanooga, at 
once addressed himself to this task. He had 
urged Grant to stay at the West, where he had 
been so uniformly successful, even though he him- 
self should then become only second in command 
there. But of the actual plan as adopted he wrote 
to Grant as follows: 

''Like yourself, you take the biggest load, and 
from me you shall have thorough and hearty co- 
operation. I will not let side issues draw me off 
from your main plans, in which I am to knock Jos. 
Johnston and to do as much damage to the re- 
sources of the enemy as possible. I have hereto- 
fore written to General Rawlins and to Colonel 
Comstock (of your staff) somewhat of the method 
in which I proposed to act. I have seen all my 
army, corps and division commanders, and have 
signified only to the former, viz., Schofield, Thomas 
and McPherson, our general plans, which I in- 
ferred from the purport of our conversation here 
and at Cincinnati." 

In the course of his visit he held interviews 



DURING THE WAR. 41 

with Major-General McPherson at Huntsvllle, 
Major-General Thomas at Chattanooga and Ma- 
jor-General Schofield at Knoxville. With these 
officers he arranged in general terms the lines of 
communication to be guarded, the strength of 
the several columns and garrisons, and appointed 
the 1st of May as the time for everything to be 
in readiness. While these commanders were 
carrying out their instructions General Sherman 
returned to Nashville, giving his personal atten- 
tion to the subject of supplies, organizing a mag- 
nificent system of railroad communication by two 
routes from Nashville. 

In May, 1864, the campaigns began simul- 
taneously at the West and at the East. Sher- 
man's confidence was indicated by writing to 
Grant that " from the West, when our task is 
done, we will make short work of Charleston 
and Richmond and the impoverished coast of 
the Atlantic." In round numbers he had an 
effective army of close upon 100,000 men and 254 
guns. The Army of the Cumberland, under 
Thomas, comprised about three-fifths of this 
strength, with 60,000 men and 130 guns, wliile 



42 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

the Army of the Tennessee, under McPherson, 
had 25,000 men and 96 guns, and the Army of 
the Ohio, under Schofield, 14,000 men and 28 
guns. 

The store-houses and depots of Chattanooga 
soon groaned beneath the weight of abundance. 
The whole of East Tennessee and Northern Ala- 
bama contributed to the general store, while the 
whole Northwest and West poured volumes of 
sustenance through the avenues of communica- 
tion from Louisville. On the 27th of April the 
three great armies of his division were converg- 
ing at Chattanooga. The ist of May witnessed 
over sixty thousand troops and 130 guns, form- 
ing the Army of the Cumberland, Major-General 
George H. Thomas commanding, encamped in 
the vicinity of Ringgold, Ga. McPherson, with a 
portion of Grant's old veteran and victorious bat- 
talions of the Army of the Tennessee, numbering 
twenty-five thousand troops of all arms and nine- 
ty-six guns, lay at Gordon's Mill, on the historic 
Chickamauga. General Schofield, with over thir- 
teen thousand troops and twenty-eight guns, 
constituting the Army of the Ohio, lay on the Geor- 




M 



DURING THE WAR, " 43 

gla line north of Dalton. In the aggregate these 
three armies formed a grand army of over ninety- 
eight thousand men and two hundred and fifty- 
four guns, under the supreme command of Gen- 
eral Sherman. 

The enemy, superior in cavalry, and with three 
corps of infantry and artillery, commanded by 
Hardee, Hood and Polk, and all under the com- 
mand of General Joseph E. Johnston, lay in and 
about Dalton. His position was covered by an 
inaccessible ridge known as the Rocky Face, 
through which ran Buzzard Roost Gap. The 
railroad and wagon road following this pass the 
enemy had strongly defended by abattis and well 
constructed fortifications. Batteries commanded 
it in its whole length, and especially from a ridge 
at its further end, like a traverse direcdy across 
its debouch. To drive the enemy from this posi- 
tion by the front was impossible. After well re- 
connoitering the vicinity, but one practicable route, 
by which to attack Johnston was found, and that 
was by Snake Creek Gap, by which Resaca, a 
point on the enemy's railroad communication, 
eighteen miles below Dalton, could be reached. 



44 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

Accordingly McPherson was Instructed to move 
rapidly from his position at Gordon's Mill by way 
of Ship's Gap, Villanow and Snake Creek Gap, 
directly upon Resaca. During this movement 
Thomas was to make a strong feint attack in 
front, and Schofield was to press down from the 
north. Thomas occupied Tunnell Hill May 7th, 
facing Buzzard Roost Gap, experiencing little 
opposition except from cavalry. McPherson 
reached Snake Creek Gap May 8th, surprising a 
brigade of the enemy while en route to occupy it. 
May 9th Schofield moved down from the north 
close on Dalton. The same- day Newton's divi- 
s'.on of the Fourth Corps carried the ridge, 
Geary, of the Twentieth Corps, crowding on for 
the summit. 

m'pherson's onslaught. 

While this was going on at the front the head 
of McPherson's column made its appearance 
near Resaca and took position confronting the 
enemy's works. May loth the Twentieth Corps 
(Hooker) moved to join McPherson; the Four- 
teenth Corps (Palmer) followed; the Fourth 
Corps (Howard) commenced pounding Dalton 



DURING THE WAR. 45 

from the front. Meanwhile Schofield also 
hastened to join McPherson. May nth the 
whole army, with the exception of Howard's 
corps and some cavalry, was In motion for Snake 
Creek Gap. May 12th McPherson debouched 
from the gap on the main road, Kllpatrick, with 
his cavalry. In front. Thomas moved on Mc- 
Pherson's left, Schofield on Thomas' left. Kll- 
patrick drove the enemy within two miles 
of Resaca. Kllpatrick having been wounded, 
Colonel Murry took command, and, wheeling out 
of the road, McPherson's columns crowded Im- 
petuously by, and driving the enemy's advance 
within the defences of Resaca occupied a ridge 
of bold hills, his right resting on the Oostenaula, 
two miles below the railroad bridge, and his left 
abreast of the town. Thomas, on his left, facing 
Camp Creek, and Schofield, forcing his way 
through a dense forest, came In on the extreme 
left. 

The enemy had evacuated Dalton and was 
now concentrated at Resaca. Howard occupied 
Dalton and hung upon the enemy's rear. May 
14th the battle of Resaca commenced; May 



46 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

15th it continued. The same night the enemy 
was flying toward the Etowah. The whole army 
followed in pursuit. May 19th Sherman held 
all the country north of the Etowah and several 
crossings of that stream. May 23d the whole 
army was moving upon the flank of the enemy's 
position in the Allatoona Mountains. May 25th 
Hooker whipped the enemy near New Hope 
Church. On May 28th McPherson killed and 
wounded about five thousand of the enemy near 
Dallas. June 6th the enemy was in hasty retreat 
to his next position at Kenesaw Mountains. 
June 8th Blair arrived at Ackworth with the 
fresh troops of the Seventeenth Corps. June 
iith the sounds of Sherman's artillery rever- 
berated among the rugged contortions of 
Kenesaw. July 3d the enemy was pressing for 
the Chattahoochee. The mountains and Marietta 
were occupied by our forces the same day. 

m'pherson^s death. 

The enemy had a iete du pont and formidable 
works on the Chattahoochee, at the railroad 
crossing. Sherrnan advanced boldly, with a 



DURING THE WAR, 47 

small force, on the front. July 7th Schofield had 
possession of one of the enemy's pontoons and 
occupied the south side of the Chattahoochee. 
By July 9th Sherman held three crossings. John- 
ston abandoned his iete du pout and there was no 
enemy north or west of the Chattahoochee July 
loth. July 17th the whole army was in motion 
across the Chattahoochee. July i8th Atlanta 
was cut off from the east. Rousseau, with an 
expeditionary cavalry force, was operating within 
the enemy's lines. July 20th all the armies closed 
in upon Atlanta. The same afternoon the enemy 
attacked Hooker and was driven into his in- 
trenchments. On July 2 2d Johnston was re- 
lieved, and Hood, in command of the enemy, 
suddenly attacked McPherson's- extreme left with 
overpowering numbers. Giles A. Smith held the 
position first attacked with a division of McPher- 
son's troops. First he fought from one side of 
the parapet, when, being attacked in the rear, he 
fought from the other. McPherson's whole army 
soon became engaged. The battle was the most 
desperate of the campaign. McPherson was killed 
when the contest was the thickest. His last 



48 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

order saved the army. Logan succeeded to 
command. '' McPherson and revenge" rang 
alonof the lines. The effect was electric, and 
victory closed in with the night. The battle 
footed up 9000 of the enemy against 4000 of 
our own troops killed and wounded — a bal- 
ance in our favor of 5000 dead and mangled 
bodies. 

This success gained on the ist of September, 
1864, was received throughout the country with 
great enthusiasm. President Lincoln sent this 
message of thanks and congratulation : 

"The national thanks are rendered by the 
President to Major-General W. T. Sherman and 
the gallant officers and soldiers of his command 
before Atlanta for the distinguished ability and 
perseverance displayed in the campaign in 
Georgia, which, under Divine favor, has resulted 
in the capture of Atlanta. The marches, battles, 
sieges and other military operations that 
have signalized the campaign must render It 
famous in the annals of war, and have entitled 



DURING THE WAR. 49 

those who have participated therein to the 
applause and thanks of the Nation. 

'^Abraham Lincoln, 
*' President of the United States.'' 

General Grant was prompt also In his tribute 
to the great exploit, and^ telegraphed as follows 
from City Point: 

*^ Major- General Shertnan: 

"I have just received your dispatch announcing 
the capture of Atlanta. In honor of your great 
victory I have ordered a salute to be fired with 
shotted guns from every battery bearing upon 
the enemy. The salute will be fired within an 
hour amid great rejoicing. 

"U. S. Grant, 

*' Lieutenant' General!' 

"from ATLANTA TO THK SEA.** 

Hood now sought to repair his mishaps by 
essaying an attack In his turn upon Sherman's 
long line of supplies ; and, not content with some 
successes gained In that direction, he undertook 



50 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

a movement In force into Tennessee, perhaps 
presuming that this would cause Sherman to re- 
treat thither. But that officer, perceiving that 
any such step would greatly diminish the success 
of his Atlanta campaign, made a different re- 
sponse.. Sending Thomas north with a portion 
of his own command, tQ be joined by other forces, 
and leaving him to contest Hood's advance, he 
filled his wagons with supplies, and, cutting loose 
from his base, made his famous " holiday march " 
from Atlanta to the sea, where he could open 
communication with the fleet. The story of that 
march of 300 miles in twenty-four days is one of 
the most picturesque in modern warfare, and will 
be the theme of anecdote and reminiscence till its 
last survivor is gone. As an example of skill in 
the use of the " movable column " on a grand 
scale, it has also formed the study and admiration 
of European critics, and has given General Sher- 
man a very high place among modern soldiers. 
The march Itself was easily accomplished In the 
absence of Hood's army, and toward the end of 
December Sherman was able to send a dispatch 
to President Lincoln, saying: "I beg to present 



DURING THE WAR. 61 

you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah with 
150 heavy guns, plenty of ammunition, and 25,000 
bales of cotton." The appreciation of Congress 
was expressed In this resolution : 

"That the thanks of the people and of the 
Congress of the United States are due and are 
hereby tendered to Major-Gen. William T. Sher- 
man, and through him to the officers and men 
under his command, for their gallantry and good 
conduct In their late campaign from Chattanooga 
to Atlanta and the triumphal march thence 
through Georgia to Savannah, terminating In the 
capture and occupation of that city; and that the 
President cause a copy of this joint resolution to 
be engrossed and forwarded to Major-Gen. Sher- 
man." 

Thomas, that splendid soldier, had meanwhile 
magnificently fulfilled the part of the task as- 
signed to him, which, indeed. Involved the harder 
fighting, and, after Schofield's handsome check of 
Hood's advance at Franklin, had completely re- 
pulsed and overwhelmed the Confederate army 
at Nashville. 

Pausing only to refit his command and fill his 



62 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

wagons, Sherman, in February, 1865, left Savan- 
nah for a march through the Carohnas. Mean- 
while Schofield had been detached from Thomas 
to co-operate in a march inland from |he coast of 
North Carolina. Movinof in the rear of Charles- 
ton, Sherman compelled the evacuation of that 
place, which thereupon fell into Union hands. 
Continuing his march, he reached and occupied 
Columbia, and then, moving northward to Winns- 
borough and eastward to Cheraw and then to 
Fayetteville, he prepared to form a junction with 
Schofield and Terry at Goldsborough. But be- 
fore this could be accomplished, he was twice 
heavily encountered by Johnston, who had re- 
sumed command at, Averysborough and Benton- 
ville. However, the result was the retreat of 
Johnston and the junction of all the Union forces 
at Goldsborough. Meanwhile the canipaign in 
Virginia had been renewed, and, after the great 
series of battles around Petersburg, had ended in 
the surrender of Lee at Appomattox on the 9th 
of April. As soon as the news reached John- 
ston, that officer sent to Sherman to know upon 
what terms his own surrender would be received. 



DURING THE WAR, 63 

On the 1 8th, at Durham's Station, the two com- 
manders agreed on a basis of peace, which, how- 
ever, was disapproved at Washington as cover- 
ing ground not within General Sherman's powers, 
and more particularly from its stipulations in re- 
gard to the political status. Subsequently, there- 
fore, a new agreement was made on the general 
basis of the one between Grant and Lee. 

It only remained for General Sherman's army 
to pass in review at Washington, which It did on 
the 24th of May, following the review of the 
Army of the Potomac the day previous. In this 
remarkable display the mules, goats, cows, poul- 
try, and various oddities which the veterans of 
the march through Georgia and the Carolinas had 
picked up caused much amusement. Following 
that came the farewell orders of 4:heir commander, 
which declared the belief that in peace good 
soldiers would make good citizens, and that 
should war come again " Sherman's army" would 
be first in the field. 

FAREWELL TO HIS ARMY. 

General Sherman took leave of his army in an 



54 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

order dated May 30, 1865. The following was 
the closing passage: 

" Your General now bids you farewell, with the 
full belief that, as In war you have been good 
soldiers, so In peace you will make good citizens, 
and If unfortunately new war should arise in our 
country, * Sherman's army ' will be the first to 
buckle on Its old armor and come forth to defend 
and maintain the government of our inheritance." 

Sherman's last campaign excited much Interest 
In England. The Horse Guards began to study 
his remarkable march. The Duke of Cambridge 
w^ent to preside at a meeting to hear an explana- 
tion of It In detail. Sherman became the hero of 
the war from an English point of view. In spite of 
their sympathy with the South. 

"On the 15th £)f November the splendid army 
of brawny western men, stripped like an athlete 
for the race and the struggle, set Its face towards 
the Atlantic Ocean, and with banners streaming 
and bands playing, bade farewell to the smoulder- 
ing ruins of Arianta." 

When this daring movement was first made 
public, it is hard to say which was the more as- 



DURING THE WAR. 55 

tonished, the North or the South. Nothlnof had 
ever been heard Hke it In modern warfare. The 
rebel editors on the Atlantic seaboard professed 
to rejoice at it, for it would be the destruction of 
Sherman's army. The aroused people, they de- 
clared, would hang along his flanks as lightning 
plays along the edge of a thunder-cloud, and re- 
moved beyond all reach of provisions, so that his 
army would be vanquished by starvation alone. 
In Europe it created almost equal astonishment. 
Said the London Times, "Since the great Duke of 
Marlborough turned his back upon the Dutch, and 
plunged hurriedly into Germany to fight the 
famous battle of Blenheim, military history has 
recorded no stranger marvel than this mysterious 
expedition of General Sherman on an unknown 
route against an undiscovered enemy." 

The B^Htish Army and Navy Gazette said.- 
" He had done one of die most brilliant or foolish 
things ever performed by a military leader." The 
Richmond papers scornfully boasted that his 
march '^ would lead him to the Paradise of fools." 
The able critics of Europe declared "if he sue- 



66 LIFE OF GENERAL WM,' T. SHERMAN. 

ceeded he would add a fresh chapter to the his- 
tory of modern warfare." 

For boldness and originality of the design 
and the ability with which the campaign was exe- 
cuted, it stands alone in the history of modern 
warfare. The South was struck dumb at his suc- 
cess. The North was jubilant and rang with his 
praises. He had not only gotten through safely, 
but he entered into Savannah, not with a half- 
starved and exhausted army, but if possible in 
better condition than when it started. The ani- 
mals fresh and vigorous, and not a wag-on lost. A 
thousand men would cover his entire loss on this 
famous and renowned march." 

General Sherman's letters were in many re- 
spects models. The one which he wrote to his 
regiment after the death of his child in Memphis 
is most touching. We also give one which he 
wrote to his brother from Memphis, expressing 
his views of the war at the time that the letter 
was written : 

"Memphis, Tenn., August 13, 1862. — My dear 
brother : I have not written to you for so long that 



DURING THE WAR. 67 

I suppose you think I have dropped the corre- 
spondence. For six weeks I was marching along 
the road from Corinth to Memphis, mending 
roads, building bridges, and all sorts of work. At 
last, I got here, and found the city contributing 
gold, arms, powder, salt, and everything the 
enemy wanted. It was a smart trick on their part, 
thus to give up Memphis, that the desire of gain, 
to our northern merchants should supply them 
with the things needed in war. I stopped this at 
once, and declared gold, silver, treasury notes and 
salt as much contraband of war as powder. I 
have one man under sentence of death for smug- 
gling arms across the lines, and hope Mr. Lincoln 
will approve it. But the mercenary spirit of our 
people is too much and my orders are reversed, 
and I am ordered to encourage the trade in cot- 
ton, and all orders prohibiting gold, silver and 
notes to be paid for it are annulled by orders from 
Washington. Grant promptly ratified my order, 
and all military men here saw at once that gold 
spent for cotton went to the purchase of arms 
and munitions of war. But what are the lives of 
our soldiers to the profits of the merchants ? 



68 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN, 

"After a whole year of bungling, the country 
has at last discovered that we want more men. 
All knew it last fall as well as now, but it was not 
popular. Now thirteen million (the General evi- 
dently intended only 1,300,000) men are required 
when 700,000 was deemed absurd before. It will 
take time to work up these raw recruits, and they 
will reach us in October, when we should be in 
Jackson, Meridian and Vicksburg. Still I must 
not growl; I have purposely put back and have no 
right to criticise, save that I am glad the papers 
have at last found out we are at war and have a 
formidable enemy to combat. 

" Of course I approve the Confiscation Act, 
and would be willing to revolutionize the govern- 
ment so as to amend that article of the Constitu- 
tion which forbids the forfeiture of land to the 
heirs. My full belief is, we must colonize the 
country de novo, beginning with Kentucky and 
Tennessee, and should remove four million of our 
people at once south of the Ohio River, taking 
the farms and plantations of the rebels. I deplore 
the war as much as ever; but if the thing has to 
be done, let the means be adequate. Don't ex- 



DURING THE WAR, 69 

pect to overrun such a country or subdue such a 
people in one, two or five years. It is the task of 
half a century. Although our army is thus far 
south, it cannot stir from our garrisons. Our men 
are killed or captured within sight of our lines. 
I have two divisions here — mine and Hurlbut's — 
about 13,000 men ; am building a strong fort, and 
think this is to be one of the depots and basis of 
operations for future movements. 

" The loss of Halleck is almost fatal. We have 
no one to replace him. Instead of having one 
head we have five or six, all independent of each 
other. I expect our enemies will mass their troops 
and fall upon our detachment before new rein- 
forcements come. I cannot learn that there are 
any large bodies of men near us here. There 
are detachments at Holly Springs and Senatobia, 
the present termini of the railroads from the 
South, and all the people of the country are armed 
as guerrillas. Curtis is at Helena, eighty miles 
south, and Grant at Corinth. Bragg's army from 
Tripoli has moved to Chattanooga, and proposes 
to march on Nashville, Lexington and Cincinnati. 
They will have about 75,000 men. Buell is near 



60 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

Huntsville with about 30,000, and I suppose de- 
tachments of the new levies can be put in Ken- 
tucky from Ohio and Indiana in time. The 
weather is very hot, and Bragg can't move his 
forces very fast ; but I fear he will give trouble. 
My own opinion is we ought not to venture too 
much into the interior until the river is safely In 
our possession, when we could land at any point 
and strike Inland. To attempt to hold all the 
South would demand an army too large even to 
think of. We must colonize and settle as we go 
South, for in Missouri there is as much strife as 
ever. Enemies must be killed or transported to 
some other country. 

"Your affectionate brother, 

'' W. T. Sherman/* 

*' While lying along the pestiferous bank of the 
Big Black River, his wife and family visited him, 
and one child sickened and died. On his first ar- 
rival In camp he became a great pet In the Thir- 
teenth Regiment Infantry — Sherman's old regi- 
ment that he commanded at. Bull Run — which 
made him a sergeant and heaped on him all of 



DURING THE WAR. 61 

those little testimonials of affection which soldiers 
know so well how to bestow. This kindness had 
touched Sherman's heart, and now at midnight, as 
he sat in his room at Memphis and thought of his 
little boy pale and lifeless far away, floating sadly 
up the Mississippi, this kindness all came back 
on him, and bowed with grief, he sat down and 
wrote the following letter to his regiment :" 

"Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 4, Midnight. 
" Captain C. C. Smith, Commanding Battalion, 
Thirteenth Infantry — My Dear Friend : I cannot 
sleep to-night till I record an expression of the deep 
feelings of my heart to you and the officers and 
soldiers of the battalion for their kind behavior to 
my poor child. I realize that you all feel for my fam- 
ily the attachment of kindred, and I assure you of 
full reciprocity. Consistent with a sense of duty 
to my profession and office I could not leave my 
post, and send for my family to come to me In that 
fatal climate, and behold the result. The child 
that bore my name, and In whose future I reposed 
with more confidence than I did with my own 
plans of life, now floats a mere corpse, seeking a 



62 LIFE OF GENERAL VVM. T. SHERMAN. 

grave in a distant land, with a weeping mother, 
brothers and sisters dustering around him. But 
for myself I can ask no sympathy. On I must go 
to meet a soldier's fate, or see my country rise 
superior to all factions till its flag Is adorned and 
respected by ourselves and all powers of the earth. 

" But my poor Will was, or thought he was, a 
sergeant of the Thirteenth. I have seen his eyes 
brighten and his heart beat, as he beheld the 
battalion under arms and asked me If they were 
not real soldiers. Child as he was, he had the en- 
thusiasm, pure love of truth, honorand love of coun- 
try, which should animate all soldiers. He Is dead, 
but will not be forgotten till those who knew him in 
life have followed him to the same mysterious end. 

"Please convey to the battalion my heartfelt 
thanks, and assure each and all that If In after- 
years they mention to me or mine that they were of 
the Thirteenth Regulars when poor Willy was 
sergeant, they will have a key to the affection of 
my family that will open all that It has, that will 
share with them our last blanket, our last crust. 
"Your friend. 

"W. T. Sherman, Maj. Genir 



DURING THE WAR. 63 

Nothing can be more touching than this let- 
ter. How it lays open his heart to his soldiers. 
Ordinary expression of courtesy or acknowledg- 
ment of gratitude would not answer. Their sym- 
pathy for a time had made them his equals, and 
he writes them as. friends — the dearest of friends 
because friends of his boy. Their love for him 
had bound them to him by a tenderer chord 
than long and faithful service in the field. And 
what a heart this man, this rough man, as many 
termed him, had. No man could write that letter 
in whose heart did not dwell the noblest Im- 
pulses of nature. The regiment ordered a mon- 
ument for the little sergeant, and had inscribed 
on It, " Our little Sergeant Willie, from the First 
Battalion, Thirteenth United States Infantry." 

GENERAL SHERMAn'S RELATIONS WITH HIS MEN. 

A distinguished officer of the Union army, who 
commanded a brigade under Generals Grant, 
Sherman and Thomas, and knew them all person- 
ally, mentions a striking point of difference in their 
relations to the armies they commanded. " I have 
seen Grant ride from rear to front of a moving 



64 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

column, or from right to left of the army, receiving 
salutes all the time, but making none in return. 
He was never cheered and never a word passed 
between him and the lines. He always seemed 
absorbed in thought, and with a cigar held firmly 
between his teeth he looked straight ahead, as if 
at some objective point that nobody else could 
see. He was too absorbed to return the salutes, 
and the men never attempted to break in on his 
reserve. General Thomas was a good deal the 
same way, only sterner looking than Grant. When 
he rode past a column it was always with some 
definite object in view, and he seemed too full of 
that to notice anything else. The men had the 
greatest confidence in him and respect for him, 
but there was never any familiarity or demonstra- 
tion of affection. With Sherman it was entirely 
different. I have seen him ride from front to rear 
of a column, and it would be a continuous cheer 
the whole way. Not only this, but a con- 
tinuous exchange of salutations and remarks. Be- 
tween their cheers the men w^ould shout good- 
natured remarks at 'Uncle Billy* and he would 
talk to them in return, passing remarks about his 



DURING THE WAR, 65 

plans, what we were going to do next, etc. It 
seemed to me sometimes as if he would speak to 
almost every man in the column while he was 
passing. No matter what he had on his mind he 
never seemed abstracted, and was always ready 
to chaff the boys. On horseback he was the least 
soldierly-looking of the three, and he had a slouchy 
w^ay of riding that used to tickle the boys. But 
what pleased them most was his free-and-easy 
manner and his way of talking to everybody as 
he rode along the lines. He got more cheering 
than military salutes." 



CHAPTER III. 

AFTER THE WAR. 

A FTER the war Sherman was In command of 
the MiHtary Division of the Mississippi, and 
in 1866, when Grant was promoted to be General 
of the Army, Sherman was made Lieutenant- 
General, thus clearly indicating public sentiment 
as to the value of his military services to the 
country. When, in 1869, Grant became Presi- 
dent, Sherman was made his successor as General, 
with the proviso that this grade on the active list 
should go to no other person, the same provision 
being made in regard to the office of Lieutenant- 
General, to which Sheridan was raised. While 
General of the Army, Sherman visited Europe, 
where he was received with distinguished honors. 
After his return he wrote and published his mem- 
oirs. The passage of the law of retirement for 
age took him from the active list In 1884, but, as 
a special mark of national favor, he was allow- 
66 




^ 



AFTER THE WAR. 67 

ed to receive full pay and emoluments. Since 
then he has resided in St. Louis, and later in New 
York. Generally In vigorous health and enjoying 
life, he has been abundantly honored by various 
institutions of learning and social organizations, 
as well as by the veteran soldiers, whom he often* 
addressed at their meetings, and by his country- 
men at large, who have so long admired him as a 
noble specimen of the patriot and the soldier. 

General Sherman has been one of the most- 
picturesque figures in our modern life, as he will 
be in American history. His erect figure, with 
grim face that often relaxed into kindness, his 
soldierly ways and habits of thought, had come to 
seem a sort of national possession. He was a 
most interesting writer and public speaker, whose 
occasional extravagances and eccentricities of 
expression had become well understood. Now 
and then hasty or careless in utterance, and 
sometimes making himself trouble thereby, he 
was never commonplace. As a soldier he knew 
well how to march and feed a great army as 
well as to engage it in battle. Of him it has just- 
ly been said that he possessed the "geographical 



68 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

eye," which made'every natural feature In a land- 
scape present itself to him in its military possi- 
bilities. 

ALWAYS AT THE FRONT. 

Sherman believed in fighting at the front of his 
men, and he always lived up to that belief. 

" No man," says he in the closing chapters of 
his memoirs, " can properly command an army 
from the rear. He must be at the front, and 
when a detachment is made, the commander there- 
of should be informed of the object to be accom- 
plished and left as free as possible to execute it 
in his own way, and when an army is divided up 
into several parts the superior should always at- 
tend that one which he regards as most important. 
Some men think that modern armies may be so 
regulated that a general can sit in an office and 
play on his several columns as on the keys of a 
piano. This is a fearful mistake. The directing 
mind must be at the very head of the army — 
must be seen there — and the effect of his mind 
and personal energy must be felt by every officer 
and man present with it, to secure the best re- 
sults. Every attempt to make war easy and safe 
will result in humiliation and disaster. 



AFTER THE WAR, 69 

HAD NO TASTE FOR POLITICS. 

General Sherman loved life and Its good things. 
He loved a good dinner, a good story, a good 
horse and a good companion. He idolized his 
country, and Ills life was always at Its service 
save in the way of politics, which he abhorred, and 
in a manly simple way, he paid a meed of reverence 
to his Creator. He was one man in very few who 
never listened to the buzzing of the Presiden- 
tial " bee in his bonnet," and when his name was 
mentioned as a possible candidate for the Presi- 
dency he did not coyly hold back and wait for 
further developments, but came out in an honest, 
ringing letter and said that he did not want the 
honor and was not fitted for the place. 

SHERMAN'S FAMILY LIFE, 

Few happier or more devoted families than 
that of General Sherman ever lived. He was 
a loving and devoted husband and father, and very 
proud of his wife and children. But one differ- 
ence marred the perfection of their married life. 
Mrs. Sherman and her children were devoted ad* 



70 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

herents of the Roman Catholic faith, while the 
General held allegiance to no religious creed. 

His wife was always eminent in her church and 
charitable work, and received in recognition for 
services from Pope Leo XIII. the emblem of the 
golden rose, a rare and priceless token, which 
few American ladies have ever received. Her 
children were devoted adherents to the same 
faith, and the prayers of the entire household 
were centred in the husband and father. 

In the summer of 1878 a great disappointment 
fell upon the General. His eldest son, Thomas 
Ewing Sherman, named after the kind foster- 
father and the idol of his father, whom the 
General had hoped to make a soldier, but finding 
this impossible, had fitted for the study of the 
law, decided, after long hesitation, to devote his 
life to the priesthood. 

In a letter dated June i, 1878, from young 
Sherman to his friend Samuel Elbers, of St. 
Louis, which was published with his consent, he 
stated what he proposed to do, and besought 
his father's friends not to question the latter 
about it 



AFTER THE WAR, 71 

'•Father," the young man wrote, "gave me a 
complete education for the Bar at Georgetown 
College and the Scientific School at Yale. On 
me rests the entire responsibility for taking this 
step. I go without his sanction, approval or 
consent." 

At the same time he expressed his sorrow 
for causing such grief and disappointment to the 
father whom he loved. 

MRS. SHERMAN'S DEATH, 

He had not yet entered the priesthood when, 
on November 27, 1888, his fond mother died 
suddenly of heart- failure. In his first grief the 
General refused to admit the priests to his 
house, but he quickly succumbed to the prayers 
and tears of his children. 

The body was taken in a private car to St. 
Louis and interred in Calvary Cemetery in a 
plot which the General and she had picked out 
together in 1866, and where the remains of two 
of her sons and three grandchildren were sleeping. 

Father Sherman was ordained the following 
year in Archbishop Ryan's private chapel in 



72 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN, 

Philadelphia. All the sisters and brothers were 
present, besides many notable people, but the old 
General still sturdily set his face against the step 
and refused to be present An unusual favor 
was paid to the young priest. He was made sub- 
deacon on July 6th, deacon on July 7th and priest 
on July 8 th, preaching his first sermon the 
following Sunday. 

HIS BELIEF IN A FUTU]IE LIFE. 

Although not a religious man. General Sherman 
showed his belief in a future life in a letter which 
he wrote to the New York Herald on his return 
from burying his wife. 

"I expected to go first," he wrote, "as lam 
much older and have been more severely tried, 
but it was not to be. But I expect to resume my 
place at her side some day." 

Miss Rachel Sherman, a beautiful girl, was her 
father's especial pet and pride. For years she 
has acted as his amanuensis and has written from 
his dictation most of his official, business and 
social letters. She rendered him much assistance 
in getting up his autobiography, A few years 



AFTER THE WAR, 73 

ago she interviewed him on behalf of the Herald, 
and the result, which was spicy and interesting, 
was widely read. 

The greatest cross of General Sherman's life 
was that no son of his followed him into the 
army. That has always been his first and greatest 
love. 

HIS RETIREMENT. 

On the 8th of April, 1884, President Arthur 
issued the following order announcing the retire- 
ment of General Sherman: "General William T. 
Sherman, general of the army, having this day 
reached the age of sixty-four, is, in accordance 
with law, placed upon the retired list of the army, 
without reduction in his current pay and allow- 
ances. The anouncement of the severance from 
the command of the army of one who has been 
for so many years its distinguished chief can but 
awaken in the minds not only of the army, but 
of the people of the United States, mingled 
emotions of regret and gratitude — regret at the 
withdrawal from active military service of an 
officer whose lofty sense of duty has been a model 
for ail soldiers since he first entered the army in 



74 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

July, 1840, and gratitude freshly awakened for 
the services of incalculable value rendered by 
him in the war for the Union, which his great 
military genius and daring did so much to end. 
The President deems this a fitting occasion to give 
expression of the gratitude felt toward General 
Sherman by his fellow-citizens, and to hope that 
Providence may grant him many years of health 
and happiness in the relief from the active duties 
of his profession." 

General Sherman at once retired to private 
life and moved to St. Louis, where he resided 
for a short time. He then took up his resi- 
dence in New York City, where he has since 
lived. 

GENERAL SHERMAN'S LETTER ABOUT HIS BURIAL TO 
RANSOM G. A. R. POST, OF ST. LOUIS. 

In February, 1890, on the occasion of General 
Sherman's seventieth birthday, the members of 
Ransom Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of 
which General Sherman was the first commander, 
sent the General many congratulatory letters and 
telegrams. 



AFTER THE WAR, 75 

The old warrior, in replying to these, among 
other things said: 

"I have again and again been urged to allow 
my name to be transferred to the roster of some 
one of the many reputable posts of the Grand 
Army of the Republic here, but my invariable 
answer has been 'No,' that Ransom Post has stood 
by me since its beginning and I will stand by it 
to my end, and then that, in its organized capacity, 
it will deposit my poor body in Calvary Cemetery 
alongside my faithful wife and idolized 'soldier 
boy/ 

"My health continues good, so my comrades of 
Ransom Post must guard theirs, that they may be 
able to fulfil this sacred duty imposed by their first 
commander. 

"God bless you all. W. T. Sherman." 

PERHAPS HIS LAST LETTER. 

The following, supposed to be the last letter 
written by General Sherman, was addressed to 
Benjamin H. Field, of No. 21 Madison Square, 
and was dated February 3d: 



76 LIFE OF GENERAL IVM. T. SHERMAN. 

"Dear Mr. Field: — I thank you sincerely for 
the handsome volume, 'Recollections of George 
W. Childs,' which contains such pleasant reminis- 
cences, some of which are personal to myself. I 
am sure that I have read all these 'Recollections' 
in *Lippincott's' or detached pamphlets, but they 
have increased value and interest by being as- 
sembled in one i2mo volume, with good binding 
and good print. With failing eyes I notice these 
things, and, while our newspapers are simply a 
disgrace in their type, I am glad to observe that 
our leading book-publishers have made large im- 
provements in their type, approximating the more 
costly books of England. 

"Mr. Childs takes such a kindly view of men and 
things that it is refreshing to read its pages. I 
have partaken of his hospitality in his princely 
homes at Long Branch, Philadelphia and Wooton, 
and know of no gentleman at home or abroad who 
better dispenses the wealth which he has earned 
by his own hand and brains. Whilst essentially 
American, he does not limit his expenditure, as 
most rich men do, to their own locality, but he 
takes in the whole world, as illustrated by his me- 



AFTER THE WAR, 77 

morial fountain to Shakespeare at Stratford-on- 
Avon, and his memorial windows and tablets at 
"Westminster and Winchester. England. 

"lam not sure you know him personally; If not, 
and you want to meet him, I can bring you to- 
gether at my table some time this spring. With 
great respect, your friend, 

"W, T. Sherman." 



CHAPTER IV. 

HIS LIFE IN NEW-YORK. 

r^ ENERAL SHERMAN has been for five years 
one of the most familiar figures in New 
York. He was a devoted theatre-goer, and it did 
not take long for the amusement-seeking public 
to learn who he was and to honor him whenever 
he appeared in the auditorium, whether in a box 
or in the ordinary orchestra chair. It was the 
custom of the spectators on such occasions to give 
evidence of their knowledge of the presence of the 
General, and it was not an infrequent thing for 
them to applaud him liberally on his entrance to 
the theatre. 

On one occasion, the representation of " Shen- 
andoah." at the Twenty-third Street Theatre, the 
audience became so enthusiastic over the presence 
78 



HIS LIFE IN NE W- YORK. 79 

of General Sherman in a box that it compelled 
him by its applause to come forward and make a 
speech from the box-rail. In all these demonstra- 
tions there was ever evinced the greatest respect 
and love. His very appearance riveted the atten- 
tion of the spectators and his civilian dress could 
not disguise the bearing of the soldier, while his 
stern and furrowed face always indicated the 
warrior. 

Another cause of the familiarity of the public 
with General Sherman's personality was histfre- 
quent presence at public dinners. There Is no 
association of any prominence in New York City 
at some annual banquet of which General Sher- 
man has not been an honored guest, and on a 
vast majority of these festive occasions he made 
speeches. At all celebrations, civil and military 
that the town has known since 1886, General 
Sherman was conspicuous, and on all such occa- 
sions the same spirit of reverence, respect and 
love was manifested toward him. 

Immediately prior to 1886 General Sherman 
lived in St. Louis. In the latter part of that year he 
removed to New York and took up his residence 



so LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. For nearly two years 
he resided there, and then, in 1888, he removed 
to his late residence, 75 West Seventy-first Street, 
where he established a thoroughly comfortable 
home with his daughters. This house was com- 
paratively new and the General took a lively per- 
sonal interest in its fittines and furnishingrs. He 
had in the basement what he was wont to call his 
office, and the decorations of this apartment were 
almost wholly reminiscent of his military career. 
The walls were adorned with photographs of his 
comrades and subordinates in the civil war, each 
of whom he recalled vividly and about whom he 
was always ready to relate some interesting anec- 
dote. In the centre of the apartment he had his 
working desk, a plain piece of ordinary office fur- 
niture, which was generally Httered with letters 
and telegrams. Close by this, at the side of the 
room, was another desk at which his private sec- 
retary was accustomed to sit and receive daily 
instructions. 

Among the photographs on the walls was a 
central group of three pictures. The middle one 
of these was a full-length likeness of Ulysses S. 



HIS LIFE IN NE W- YORK. 81 

Grant standing In an easy pose, with the left hand 
thrust into the breast of a fatigue coat and the 
right deep 'down in the trousers pocket. To the 
left of this was a picture of Phil Sheridan in full 
uniform, and to the right was a picture of General 
Sherman himself, also in full uniform. He was 
especially fond of these pictures of Grant and 
Sheridan. He was wont to say that he knew of 
no other likeness of Grant that showed so clearly 
the repose of the man. It had been taken at the 
close of the war, when Grant was down to fighting 
weight, as the General expressed it, and before 
he had become fleshy and taken on the heavy look 
that appears in some of his later pictures. The 
picture of Sheridan had been selected by General 
Sheridan out of many hundreds, and on this ac- 
count General Sherman preferred it to all others. 
He used to say that he loved these pictures be- 
cause they recalled to him the men as he had known 
them best. 

His parlors were simply but tastefully deco- 
rated, the two most conspicuous objects that 
adorned them being a life-size oil portrait of his 
dead wife and another of himself. His household 



82 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

was thoroughly democratic, and his guests were 
always received without oppressive ceremony and 
were made to feel at home at once. He loved 
this home that he had made because of its peace 
and rest. It was a refuge from excitement, and 
it was a pleasure for him to retire to it after the 
diversion of the theatre or the banquet hall. It 
was in an excellent neighborhood near Central 
Park, and there the General loved to wander on 
pleasant days with his grandchildren, of whom he 
had eight. None of these lived with him, but they 
visited him frequently, and considered it the high- 
est privilege as well as the greatest pleasure to 
walk with him. 

General Sherman was always a most delightful 
host. His welcome was cordial and hospitable, 
and the guests felt at once at ease while realizing 
the honor and the privilege of the association. 
As a raconteur he was admirable. He had lived 
so long, had seen so much, and had done so much 
that the least suggestion brought forth from 
him stories that were both instructive and enter- 
taining. On his seventieth birthday, which he 
celebrated by a little dinner in his home on the 



HIS LIFE IN NEW- YORK. 83 

evening of Feb. 8, 1890, he said: "Yes, I am 
seventy years old to-day, the time allotted for man 
to live, but I can truly say that I have not felt 
better at any time within ten years. Seventy 
years is a long time, and it seems a great while 
since I was a boy. Still, I can recall incidents 
that happened when I was not more than four 
years of age." His memory was astonishing in 
detail and his mind was wonderful in vigor. He 
could recall the minutia of incidents almost from 
infancy and throughout his eventful career. 

His love for the theatre was prodigious. He 
was deeply interested In all that pertained to 
the stage, and he valued certain actors and act- 
resses as his dearest friends. He used to tell 
how he had come to New York when he was six- 
teen years old and had then visited the old Park 
Theatre, on Park Row, between Beekman and 
Ann Streets. In those days, he said there were 
great star actors, but the general average of 
theatrical people was not high, and the possibil- 
ity of an actress being received in social circles 
was not considered. He gloried in the change 
that had taken place in the Interim, and it was 



84 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

a delight to him to recognize the fact that many 
of our actresses to-day might grace any parlor 
with their presence. He maintained that it was 
the duty of all public men to foster and encour- 
age an institution so worthy as the stage. 

In attending public dinners, of which he 
averaged far more than any other man of his 
age, General Sherman was very particular as to 
what he ate. He confined himself on such oc- 
casions to the plainest dishes, and was wont to 
drink only a little sauterne or sherry. He never 
touched champagne, and had no use for the 
heavier vv^ines. Of all things he abhorred what 
he called those mixed-up French dishes which 
might be anything or nothing. ** Half the 
time," he used to say, " these concoctions are 
only turkey or chicken hash fixed up with some 
kind of sauce and called a croquette or some- 
thing of the kind. I have no use for them." 
He had his own- theories about dining both in 
private and in public. 

He disliked exceedingly the prevalent custom 
of late dinners. He declared that all private din- 
ners should be given at such an hour as to enable 



HIS LIFE IN NEW- YORK. 85 

the diners to attend the theatre afterwards. His 
great love for the theatre probably had more 
to do with this position than his dislike for late 
dinners. He also advocated plain food for pub- 
lic dinners and deplored the costliness of modern 
banquets, declaring that it was absurd to pay 
^25 a plate for a dinner. Most people could 
not eat such dinners, and those that could paid 
the penalty of sickness for their rashness. Fond 
as General Sherman was of public banquets, he 
loved his home better. He was happiest when 
he could gather about him a choice circle of 
intimate friends and entertain them In his own 
house. 

When he attained his seventieth birthday the 
Union League Club proposed to honor the event 
by a banquet to him In its club-house. He 
thanked them for the kindness intended, but re- 
fused on the ground that he had arranged and 
preferred a little dinner In his own dining-room 
which could seat but sixteen people. And so he 
told the members of the Union League that they 
would have to postpone their proposed banquet 
or else abandon it altogether. He was going to 



86 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

dine at home that night, and with him he would 
have his brother John, the United States Senator 
from Ohio, and General Schofield, General How- 
ard and General Slocum, who had been his 
three division commanders at the close of the war. 
It afforded General Sherman the greatest happi- 
ness that these three distinguished soldiers should 
be with him that night and all in excellent 
health. 

His other guests were Chauncey M. Depew, 
General Thomas Ewing, General Wager Swayne, 
Joseph H. Choate, Colonel J. M. Wilson, Super- 
intendent of the West Point Military Academy, 
Major Grant, Mayor Chapin, of Brooklyn, Augus- 
tin Daly, J. M. Pinchot, Logan C. Murray and 
John J. Knox. 'Mr. Depew was very anxious to 
have General Sherman come around to the Union 
League Club that night, after the dinner in his 
own house, but the General replied to the 
suggestion: " How can I do that, Chauncey? I 
can't hurry up my guests in order to go to some- 
body else's entertainment. You will have to 
give up this Union League scheme of yours.*' 
And so Mr. Depew submitted gracefully to the 



HIS LIFE IN NEW' YORK, 87 

inevitable, but a month later a grand banquet 
was given by the Union League Club in honor 
of General Sherman's birthday, and at this ban- 
quet were present many of the most noted men 
in the United States, all eager to honor the old 
chieftain. 

In all of his pleasant and peaceful old age 
General Sherman realized fully the necessary in- 
firmities of increasing years and the probability 
that death might remove him at any time. The 
contemplation of death had no terrors for him. 
His position in this matter is best expressed in 
the reply which he made on his seventieth birth- 
day to a conventional wish that he might have 
many happy returns of the day. 

He said then, with a full appreciation of the 
insecurity of life as well as of the fact that his 
race was nearly run : " I am too old to hope for 
many returns of the day. And then life is so 
uncertain. Death seems to come nowadays 
without almost any warning, but many a man 
has sprung up in readiness when I have had 
the trumpets sounded, and I am still a soldier. 
When Gabriel sounds his trumpet I shall be ready." 



88 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

Gen. Sherman's taste In dramatic matters was 
catholic and Hberal. He appreciated every- 
thing good» He had been a theatre-goer In his 
early youth, and had lively memories of the best 
actors of the last generation — Burton, Richlngs, 
Wheatley, Warren, Forrest and the elder Booth. 
During his long term of active service he had 
few chances to gratify his liking for the drama, 
and after his retirement he made the most of 
his opportunities. He told at the big supper party 
given in honor of Edwin Booth by A. M. Palmer 
and Augustin Daly, March 31, 1889, how, as a 
young officer In San Francisco, he sat In the bal- 
cony of his hotel in 1856 and listened longingly 
to the cheers of the enthusiastic settlers who 
were then giving Booth his first encouragement. 

General Sherman was one of the incorporators 
of The Players, and an intimate friend of many 
of the most prominent actors of this era. He 
was always a guest at Important theatrical ban- 
quets, and at the famous supper gived by Mr. 
Daly to celebrate the one hundredth consecu- 
tive performance of "The Taming of the Shrew/' 
on the stage of Daly's Theatre, April 14, 1887, 



HIS LIFE IN NEW YORK. 89 

and at the supper party given by the same 
manager in Dehnonico's, March 27, 1888, to 
Mr. Irving and Miss Terry, he presided with 
graceful dignity, and skillfully brought out the 
best wit of the company. He was equally con- 
spicuous at Mr. Palmer's breakfast to Wyndham. 
He spoke at the last anniversary celebration of 
the Actors' Fund, of which he was an honorary 
member. When he spoke on these occasions his 
remarks were always apposite and worth listen- 
ing to. He was often seen, an attentive listener, 
at the discussions of dramatic topics before the 
NInteenth Century Club and other fashionable 
debating societies and classes. 

Notwithstanding his intimate association in 
the later years of his life with actors off the 
stage, the acted play always seemed to have its 
proper Illusion for him. He was always deeply 
interested in the story and impressed by its 
reality. He seemed to preserve, in common with 
Dickens, Thackeray and Charles Lamb, until 
the end of his life a youthful freshness of heart 
and mind. The actors who met him keenly ap- 
preciated this quality. They felt that he was, 



90 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

indeed, a keenly appreciative spectator, free 
from all bias of opinion. If he has left diaries, 
we may be sure that tkey do not contain coldly 
sententious observations on plays and actors, 
such as we find, for Instance, in the diaries of 
John Quincy Adams. Every habitual theatre- 
goer will miss General Sherman, and even those 
who never had the privilege of knowing him will 
feel his death as a personal loss. 

General Sherman died possessed of a con- 
siderable fortune, estimated at between $150,000 
and |200,ooo. Three years ago he purchased 
the house in which he and his family resided, at 
75 West Seventy-first street. Like many army 
officers, he long ago bought real estate In grow- 
ing cities in the West and held the property as a 
speculation. In this way General Sherman 
cleared a good deal of money. He owned, It Is 
said, several houses in St. Louis, and several 
hundred acres of land on the outskirts of Topeka, 
Kan. Although a good liver, General Sherman 
did not spend all of the $13,500 salary received 
by him from the Government for many years, and 
his savings he invested. 



HIS LIFE IN NEW YORK. 91 

General Sherman's last literary work was done 
two months ago, and was an introduction to " A 
Woman's Trip to Alaska," written by the wife of 
General C. H. T. Collis. 

This picture of the old hero at seventy was some 
time ago published In a New York paper. 

** General Sherman is quite gray now. Both his 
hair and beard are white. But he is still a very 
hard-working man. He lives very quietly with his 
family at his house on Seventy-first street, west of 
Central Park. He is as accessible as any man 
in New York, but he has a most direct and posi- 
tive way of dealing with bores. It has been stated 
that the General is Irascible, and so he is to per- 
sons who annoy him. To persons who have some 
real reason for calling upon him he Is always cour- 
teous. A ring at the door bell of the General's 
handsome brownstone residence brings a pleasant- 
faced servant girl to answer the call. 

''The old fighter is peculiar in one respect. The 
girl that opens his door for visitors never has to go 
and ask him if he Is In. At the first she tells one 
that " the General Is in," or he is not. That set- 
tles it. If he is in he will see you. If you are a 



92 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

bore, as a good many of his callers are, look out 
for squalls, and under any circumstances it is not 
well to be prolix. General Sherman likes one to 
get to the point at once. If the visitor is not able 
to do this he is likely to be interrupted. 

"There is one sort of a caller who is always re- 
ceived with warmth, and that is one of General 
Sherman's old soldiers, or his * boys,' as he calls 
them. Just how much assistance General Sherman 
eives to old and unfortunate soldiers it would be 
hard to say. No one but himself knows, and he 
won't tell. But these are among the more numer- 
ous of the visitors at his house. Besides them there 
are all sorts and conditions of callers at his house. 

"General Sherman is methodical in his habits 
and in his work. He is an early riser. He eats an 
early and a light breakfast, and afterward is to be 
seen in his library at the end of the hall on the 
parlor floor of his house. He has a comparatively 
large library, not entirely made up of military 
books either. He has always had a keen literary 
taste, and there are few men who are better posted 
on the literary and historical records of this and 
other lands.'* 



HIS LIFE IN NEW YORK. 93 

THE general's LAST BIRTHDAY DINNER AT THE 
NATIONAL CAPITAL. 

The last birthday spent by General Sherman at 
Washington was that on which he became 6'^ years 
of age — February 8, 1883. In one year more he 
would have been retired by statute, but he antici- 
pated the date by several months in closing his 
active connection with the army. Knowing of his 
purpose to do this, Colonel George B. Corkhill, 
then District Attorney, made the General's sixty- 
third birthday the occasion of tendering him an 
elaborate dinner, which was given at the host's 
apartment in the Portland. Twenty-one gentle- 
men surrounded the table, of whom nine, includ- 
ing the genial host, have now joined the immor- 
tals. 

The full list is as follows: General Sherman, 
Lieutenant-General Sheridan, Attorney-General 
Brewster, Chief Justice Waite, Associate Justice 
Miller, Associate Justice Stanley Matthews, Sen- 
ator Logan, Senator Allison, Senator Hawley, 
Senator Sherman, Mr. James G. Blaine, Speaker 
Keifer, Mr. Stilson Hutchins, Mr. Frank Hatton, 



94 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. ' 

Mr. Henry Watterson, Colonel Clayton Mc- 
Michael, General Van Vliet, Chief Justice Cartter, 
aod Associate Justice McArthur, of the Supreme 
Court of the District of Columbia. The menu 
card of that admirable dinner forms a historic 
souvenir. It is six large leaves of cardboard tied 
in book form with bows of red, white and blue, 
and embellished on the outer leaves with a fine 
portrait of General Sherman and scenes from his 
march to the sea. 

Inside thefirst leaf are these lines, printed in blue 
with a red line border to the page, as is" the entire 
menu: — 

Fill up the glass ! We drink to-night 

To the dark days of the nation. 
We drink to days we can't forget, 

Of camp and gun and ration. 

Fill up ! We drink to Sherman's years, 
And we drink to the march he led us; 

To the hard work done, and the victories won, 
When fortune illy served us. 

We drink to twenty years ago, 

When Sherman led our banner; 
His mistresses were fortresses, 

His Christmas gift — Savannah ! 



CHAPTER V. 

HIS HUMOROUS SIDE. 

THE OLD SOLDIER ALWAYS LOVED A JOKE OR A 
GOOD STORY. 

'T^HE men who served with or under General 
Sherman in any of his numerous and bril- 
liant campaigns are now telling anecdotes illus- 
trative of that wonderful personality that has 
made so deep an impress upon American history 
during the third of a century past. It was in the 
presence of his old army friends, when the civil- 
ian world was shut out, that he was at his best, 
and the flow of his spirits ran unchecked and 
joke and story ran into each other, sometimes at 
the expense of his neighbor and as often at the 
expense of himself. No conceit gave him more 
amusement than that his friend General Howard 
was a convivial spirit, given to the bowl and kin- 
dred pursuits, whereas the hero of the one arm 

95 



96 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

is the most temperate of men. It was this fact 
that gave point to the joke, and Sherman was 
never more happy than when he could corner 
Howard at one of their Httle Loyal Legion dinners 
and lecture him upon the errors of his ways. 

Perhaps Sherman never forgot a great practi- 
cal joke which Howard unconsciously played 
upon him back in the days when the Union army 
was resting upon its arms at Goldsborough. Sher- 
man paid a visit to Howard's tent, where neither 
wine nor anything more invigorating than cold 
water was kept. As luck would have it, Dr. John 
Moore, the Medical Director, dropped into How- 
ard's tent. Here was a man Sherman could de- 
pend upon in an emergency like this. 

Sherman gave -Moore a wink when Howard's 
back was turned and said, " Doctor, have you a 
seidlitz powder in your quarters ? I don't feel 
just right, and I know one would do me good." 
Moore had not supplemented a liberal college 
education by several years in the army in vain. 
He was equal to any drug clerk of New York in 
his knowledge of the meaning of a wink. 

" A seidlitz powder, General ? Certainly. Come 



HIS HUMOROUS SIDE. 97 

right over to my quarters and I can fix you out 
immediately." 

General Howard sprang to his feet. "That 
won't be necessary, Doctor," said he. " I have 
plenty of powders here, and good ones, too. I 
will get the General one." 

Sherman had little desire and less need for a 
seldlltz just then, and he followed Howard to his 
feet. "Never mind," said he, "I can get along 
very well without it." 

" No trouble at all," Howard answered, as he 
began to get the powder and the glasses ready. 
Sherman turned to Moore for relief, but that gen- 
tleman was busy in examining the landscape as 
an aid to keep his face straight. When that was 
accomplished, he turned about and gravely said : 
" By the way, General, I don't believe I have one 
about the premises, and you had better take the 
one Howard has prepared." Moore was some- 
thing of a joker himself and knew a joke when 
he saw one. 

Sherman was a soldier to the backbone and 
would not retreat in the face of an enemy. 
When Howard came up with the glasses, he 



98 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

bravely took them and swallowed the foaming 
stuff. But he never again complained of need- 
ing medicine when in Howard's tent. 
} A joke as good, but of a different character, 
was that almost unconsciously perpetrated on 
Sherman by an Indian chief. Out at Fort Bay- 
ard there lay for a long time an old cannon, of 
no use to any one, but which had gready taken 
the fancy of an old Apache chief. He daily 
asked the commander for it, but was put off 
with the excuse that it belonged to the Govern- 
ment and could not be given away. One day 
General Sherman arrived at the fort, and the re- 
quest of the chief was referred to him. He ex- 
amined the cannon, saw that it was worthless, 
and told the Indian he might have it. Then, 
putting on a grave air, he said to the chief: ''I 
am afraid you want that gun so that you can 
turn it on my soldiers and kill them." 

" Umph ! no," was the unexpected reply. 
" Cannon kill cowboys. Kill soldiers with club." 

General Hickenlooper, of Ohio, tells a story 
illustrating Sherman's dry wit, rather at the ex- 
pense of General Corse. In the fight at Altoona 



HIS HUMOR O US SIDE. 99 

a rifle-ball took Corse alongside the head, making 
a slight wound that, at the time, was thought to 
be a great deal more dangerous than It really 
was. When the word reached Sherman it had 
been greatly magnified, and he was informed 
that Corse's ear and cheek were gone, but that he 
would still hold his position and fight it out 

Meanwhile Corse had tied up his head and 
gone on with the business he had been sent 
there to do. As soon as possible Sherman hur- 
ried over, full of anxiety, as to the amount of 
damage done his officer. Nothing would do but 
that the bandage must come off, so that he 
might judge of the damage for himself. The 
surgeon carefully took off the cloths and re- 
vealed a slight gash across the face and a hole 
through the ear. Sherman looked for a moment 
and then dryly said : " Why, Corse, they came 
d — d near missing you, didn't they?' 

Many are the stories told of that march to the 
sea, and occasionally the General would tell 
one himself. Here Is one of his own narration: 
On one occasion he had halted for rest on the 
piazza of a house by the roadside, when It came 

tore 



100 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

into the mind of an old Confederate who was 
present that he might pick up a bit of valuable 
Information by a litde careful quizzing. He 
knew by Sherman's dress that he was an officer, 
but had no suspicion as to his rank. When he 
heard a staff officer use the tide of " General," 
he turned to Sherman In surprise and said: ''Are 
you a General? " 

"Yes, sir," was the response. 

"What Is your name? " 

"Sherman." 

*' Sherman ? You don't mean General Sherman ?" 

"That's who I mean." 

" How many men have you got ? " 

" Oh, over a million." 

"Well, General, there's just one question I'd 
like to ask you. If you have no objections." 

"Go ahead." 

"Where are youns a going to when you go 
away from here? " 

" Well that's a pretty stiff question to ask an 
entire stranger under these circumstances, but if 
you will give me your word to keep It a secret I 
don't mind telling you." 



HIS HUMOROUS SIDE. 101 

I will keep It a secret; don't have no fear of 



me." 



" But there is a great risk, you know. What 
If I should tell you my plans, and they should get 
over to the enemy ? " 

" I tell you there Is no fear of me." 

" You are quite sure I can trust you ? '* 

" As your own brother." 

The General slowly climbed into his saddle 
and leaned over to the expectant Confederate, 
who was all eyes and ears for the precious In- 
formation. '* I will tell you where I am going. 
I am going — just where I please." And he did, 
and there was not enough powder in the South 
to stop him. 

Sherman never forgot that litde drummer boy 
who came to him in the hot fight at the rear of 
VIcksburg, and when it came in his power he 
had the youngster appointed to the Naval 
Academy at Annapolis. The troops were in the 
heat of the engagement, when Sherman heard a 
shrill, childish voiee calling out to him that one 
of the regiments was out of ammunition, and 
that the men would have to abandon their 'posi- 



102 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

tion unless he sent to their reHef. He looked 
down, and there by the side of his horse was a 
mite of a boy, with the blood running from a 
wound in his leg. 

**A11 right, my boy," said the General, "I'll 
send them all they need; but as you seem to be 
badly hurt, you had better go and find a surgeon 
and let him fix you up." 

The boy saluted and started to the rear, while 
Sherman prepared to give the required order 
for the needed ammunition. But he once more 
heard the piping voice shouting back at him: 
"General, calibre fifty-eight. Calibre fifty-eight." 
Glancing back, he saw the little fellow, all un- 
conscious of his wound, running again toward 
him to tell of the character of the ammunition 
needed, as another size would have been of no 
use, and left the men as badly off as before. 
Sherman never could speak too highly of the 
little fellow's pluck; he asked him his name, 
complimented him, and promised to keep an 
eye upon him, which he did. He often related 
the story, and always with praises for the little 
soldier's bravery. 



HIS HUMOROUS SIDE. 103 

The following is related by a prominent army 
officer: 

" I don't know that I ever saw Sherman 
angry but once," said this gentleman. '' It was 
at a camp-fire before Richmond. He had just 
come in from his march from Raleigh and had re- 
ceived the Northern papers containing the bitter 
letters of Halleck and Stanton criticising him for 
allowing Jeff Davis to get out of Richmond. 
When Sherman read these letters his indignation 
was furious. Afterward, when he had calmed 
down, he unbosomed himself in his free, frank 
style to his staff as follows : ' I went down to City 
Point with Grant and met the President. After 
we had concluded our council of war I said to 
the President : '' Mr. President, what about Jeff 
Davis? Do you want him captured?" 'Now, 
General," replied Lincoln. '' That reminds me of 
a story. Some years ago there was a temperance 
lecturer in Central Illinois. He had agreed to 
deliver a lecture in a village near Springfield. 
The nieht of the lecture he had to drive about 
five miles through a drenching rain-storm, and 
when he reached the inn which the village boasted 



104 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN, 

he was wet to the skin. The hour set for his lec- 
ture was near. Some friends advised him, in 
view of his condition, to postpone it. He would 
not listen to the advice, but said the lecture would 
have to go on. *Then you must take some stimu- 
lant or you will make yourself ill.' ' Do you 
think I need a stimulant?' asked the temperance 
lecturer. * You certainly do, and a strong one,' 
remarked a friend. 'Then make me a hot 
lemonade,' said the shivering lecturer. 'A hot 
lemonade will do you no good; you want whiskey,' 
said the adviser. ' But you forget that I am a tem- 
perance lecturer.' * No, you forget your health 
is in danger,' was the reply. * Well,' said the lec- 
turer, as he cautiously surveyed his surroundings, 
' I suppose if some whiskey were to get into that 
hot lemonade without me seeing it I would not be 
responsible for it." * Now,' said Sherman, with 
considerable force, * what inference was I to take 
from that story ? I believe that President Lin- 
coln did not care whether Jeff Davis was 
captured, and that I was carrying out his im- 
plied wish in making no effort to prevent his 
escape.' " 



niS HUMOROUS SIDE. 105 

The same officer told this story of the General 
and vouches for its authenticity : 

A SOCIAL UON. 

" General Sherman," said he, *^ was, as every- 
body knows, a great diner-out. He loved com- 
pany, and was a delightful companion at a ban- 
quet. During his life in Washington he was in 
great demand and was constantly receiving invi- 
tations to luncheons, dinners and receptions. 
One afternoon the General was dressed and 
ready to go out for dinner, when he suddenly 
stopped and bowed his head in thought. Then, 
turning to Mrs. Sherman, he said : ' Emily, I have 
an invitation to dinner somewhere this afternoon, 
but for the life of me I cannot remember where 
it is.' * Oh, we can soon remedy that,' said Mrs. 
Sherman ; ' you stand at the front window until 
you see General Van Vleet coming down the 
street. Go out and join him, and you will get the 
right place.'" 

During the Georgia campaign members of the 
Christian Commission applied for permission for 



106 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

its delegates to pass within his Hnes. He replied 
to their letter : 

"Certainly not; crackers and oats are more 
necessary for the army than any moral or re- 
ligious agency, and every regiment has its chap- 
lain." 

When afterward he traversed the long, single 
line of rickety railroad, beset by guerrillas and 
upon which he was obliged to depend for supplies 
for his army, and now that we realize how much 
of the success of his campaign depended upon 
secret combinations and sudden movements, we 
can appreciate the necessity for this stringent 
military control over his rear communication and 
approve the policy of the General who makes the 
material support of the army his first and con- 
stant care. 

A good story is told of one who was on Kene- 
saw Mountain during Sherman's advance. A 
group of Confederates lay in the shade of a tree 
overlooking the Union camps about Big Shanty. 
One soldier remarked to his fellows : — " Well, the 
Yanks will have to git up and git now, for I heard 
General Johnston himself say that General 



HIS HUMOROUS SIDE. 107 

Wheeler had blown up the tunnel near Dalton 
and that the Yanks would have to retreat because 
they could get no more rations." 

" Oh !" said a listener. " Don't you know 

that old Sherman carries a duplicate tunnel 
along ?" 

One day, looking back, the men saw a line of 
bridges in their rear in flames. 

"Guess, Charley," said a trooper, "Uncle Billy 
has set the river on fire." 

Charley's reply was, "Well, if he has I reckon 
it's all right." 

Among the many stories told with great gusto 
by General Sherman while entertaining friends on 
the veranda of the Fort William Henry Hotel on 
Lake George last summer was the following: 

" I arrived in Dublin," he said, '* late one night 
and, as I hoped, unknown. I was tired out and 
made for the first hotel in sight. The next morn- 
ing I awoke rather late, but with the pleasant feel- 
ing that, as nobody knew of my comiug, I could 
pass the day as I pleased, writing letters, etc. I 
rang for breakfast, and after the remnants of the 
repast were cleared away I seated myself at a 



108 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

table, with the writing-desk I always carry with 
me, and be^an to answer a score or more of let- 
ters. In the midst of my writing I heard a brass 
band cominof down the street. I listened. There 
was something about the music that had a familiar 
sound. Yes. It was that old air 'Marching 
Through Georgia.' Here was an end to my 
quietness. It was evident that some one had 
found me out. I got up, put on an old uniform 
coat and sat down and waited. The band came 
nearer and it was all I could do to keep my feet 
still. I waited for the band to stop. They 
neared the hotel — and what? Well they went 
prancing past the house and down the street, the 
music fading away in the distance. There was 
something wrong here, evidently. I took off my 
uniform, put on another suit of clothes and went 
down to interview the proprietor. I found him 
sitting in solitary magnificence in an inside room. 
He looked at me without rising. 

"'Good-morning,' I said. 

" * Good-morning,' he returned. 

" A pause. 

** ' I heard a band on the street a few minutes 



ms HUMOROUS SIDE. 109 

ago. Anything of special importance going on 
here to-day ? ' 

"A band? Oh, yes ; they're bound for a pic- 
nic' 

"A picnic? What? In this rain?' I forgot 
to say it was raining, and had been and did during 
the most of my stay in Ireland. 

"*Oh, that's nothing/ said the landlord, 'It 
rains here the most of the time.' 

"*Do you remember what they were playing? 
The air sounded familiar.' 

"'Yes.' 

" ' It sounded to me like an American march.' 

"'An American march? Humph! It was an 
old Irish air. I first heard it when a boy. All 
the bands in Dublin play it as a march nowa- 
days.' 

" I returned to my room and finished my letters." 



CHAPTER VI. 

HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 

/^ENERAL SHERMAN died Saturday after- 
noon, February 14th, at 1.50 o'clock. 
So gently and peacefully did the spirit of 
the great soldier depart that the sorrowing 
relatives at lils bedside could scarcely re- 
alize at the time that death had completed 
its work. The dying man was surrounded by 
all of the members of his family except his eldest 
son, the Rev. T. E. Sherman, who was on the 
Atlantic homeward bound. 

All hope of General Sherman's recovery was 
practically abandoned early the day before. The 
wonderful vitality displayed by the distinguished 
invalid had kept hope alive up to that time In the 
hearts of the affectionate watchers. But soon 
after 5 o'clock a.m., of the 13th, there were 
alarming symptoms. It was evident to Dr. Alex- 
110 



HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEA TH. Ill 

ander that the General was sinking rapidly. His 
strength seemed to have been spent. 

In the belief that death was near, the members 
of the household, who had retired about 2 o'clock 
A.M., were summoned to the sick chamber. 
Lieutenant Fitch and Mr. Thackara had left the 
house for the night, and they were sent for. It 
was a sad group that gathered about the couch of 
the dying soldier just before the dawn of day. 
The General was very weak indeed. His lungs 
were almost dormant, and but the faintest bit of 
breath came from them. The doctors observed 
symptoms of pneumonia. 

No word had passed General Sherman's lips 
since very early Friday, when he addressed some 
brief remark to his nurse. Members of his 
family listened eagerly for some utterance from 
him but none came. Once or twice it seemed 
to the watchers as though the dying man was 
trying to speak. His eyes bespoke affection- 
ate recognition of those about him, but his swollen 
tongue was Incapable of articulation. His jaws, 
too, became too stiff to work, and the great hero 
of the famous march to the sea, although living. 



112 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

was as silent and helpless as a sleeping babe. 
The hours dragged wearily along and the mem- 
bers of the family waited mournfully and patiently 
the coming of the destroyer. The faithful doctors 
could give them no hope. 

Soon after daylight telegrams were sent to 
General O. O. Howard at Governor's Island 
and to General Henry W. Slocum in Brooklyn, 
asking them to come to the house as soon as 
possible. Both of these well-known soldiers 
were old comrades-in-arms of General Sherman. 
They responded to the summons as speedily as 
they were able. 

Senator John Sherman, who had spent the 
night at his brother's house and had scarcely 
slept, sent the following dispatch to his wife at 
8.25 o'clock A.M.: 

** General Sherman still lives, faintly conscious 
and without pain. His asthmatic breathing is 
shorter and his strength weaker." 

A little before 9 o'clock the following bulletin, 
dated at 8.30 o'clock a.m., was posted: 

" The physicians, after consultation, declared that 



HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEA IH. 113 

General Sherman's condition Is now hopeless. 
He is dying, and the end is near. 

" C. T. Alexander." 

This sorrowful information was conveyed to 
the newspaper reporters and to the police officer 
who was stationed in front of the dying man's 
residence, 75 West Seventy-first street. Through 
those mediums it was imparted to scores of 
passers-by, who stopped to eagerly inquire 
about General Sherman's condition. During the 
forenoon several of the General's New York 
friends called at the house, and upon being In- 
formed of the hopeless situation left messages 
of sympathy for the family. No person was 
admitted to the house except relatives or very 
intimate friends. General Thomas Ewing, brother- 
in-law of General Sherman, reached the house 
early in the day, accompanied by his son, Thomas 
Ewing, Jr. General O. O. Howard arrived soon 
afterwards. In deference to the wishes of the 
family, no persons were permitted to loiter in 
front of the house. 

General Sherman relapsed into unconscious- 
8 



114 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

ness about noon, and for the two hours before 
his death he remained in that condition. Death 
was momentarily expected during that time, and 
no member of the family left the room. Some 
of the dying hero's daughters knelt by his bed- 
side throughout that trying period. There were 
present the General's son, Mr. P. T. Sherman, his 
daughters. Miss Rachel and Miss Lizzie, who lived 
with him, his married daughters, Mrs. T. W. Fitch, 
of Pittsburg and Mrs. A. M. Thackara of Rose- 
mont, Penna.; Senator John Sherman, General 
Thomas Ewing, Mr. Fitch, and Mr. Thackara, 
Dr. Alexander, and Miss Elizabeth Price, a trained 
nurse from the New York Hospital. 

General Sherman died in his usual sleeping 
apartment in the rear of the second floor. In 
other apartments at the same time were General 
O. O. Howard, Mr. Barrett, General Sherman's 
private secretary ; Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Hoyt and 
Alfred W. Hoyt, Mrs. Colgate Hoyt, Miss May 
Ewing and Mrs. Kilpatrick, widow of General 
Judson Kilpatrick. Dr. Janeway left the house in 
the morning, as soon as he saw that the patient's 
case was hopeless. 



HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEA TH. 115 

About half an hour before the General's death 
the watchers discerned signs of approaching dis- 
solution. First the old soldier's fingers began to 
grow cold, then the fatal coldness crept slowly up 
his arms and over his body. As the end ap- 
proached, the General's head, which had been 
resting on a large pillow, was lowered gradually 
in the hope that he might be enabled to breathe 
easier. Although he died from suffocation, caused 
by the mucus from his Inflamed throat filling his 
lungs, there were no Indications of suffering on 
his part. He sank Into his eternal slumber with 
scarcely a sign. Those who were nearest his head 
say that they heard a gentle sigh escape his lips 
and then all was over. It was just 1.50 o'clock 
when the famous soldier expired. There was no 
clergyman of any denomination in the house dur- 
ing the day. 

Within a minute or two after General Sher- 
man's death one of his men-servants stepped out- 
side of the front door and said : " It Is all over." 

The male members of the family at once busied 
themselves in sending necessary telegrams an- 
nouncing General Sherman's death. Such tele- 



116 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T, SHERMAN. 

grams were sent to President Harrison, Vice- 
President Morton, the Hon. Redfield Proctor, 
Secretary of War ; Secretary Blaine^ Gen. J. M. 
Schofield, and Secretary Noble. 

Soon the crape emblem of death was fastened 
to the front door, giving sileni Information to 
every passer-by that the brave and honored Gen. 
Sherman was no more. Almost every person that 
passed stopped to ask the policeman on guard for 
particulars of the sad event. But all that the 
officer could tell them was: "He is dead." By 
and by messages of condolence began to arrive, 
and carriage after carriage rolled up to the 
house. 

A la;rge number of well-known New-Yorkers 
sent expressions of their sympathy to the mem- 
bers of Gen. Sherman's family, and several called 
at the house during the afternoon. Among the 
latter were Gen. Steward L. Woodford, Gen. C. 
H. T. Collis, and Col. Whitney, all warm personal 
friends of Gen. Sherman. General Collis said : 
" General Sherman had a presendment of his ap- 
proaching end two weeks before he was taken 111 
at all. We met on our way to an affair at ex-Judge 



• HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEA TH. 117 

Dillon's house. I mentioned the approaching 
anniversary of General Grant's birth-day, which 
occurs April 27. 'I'll be dead and gone by that 
time,' said Sherman earnestly, with a foreboding 
took In his eye. I laughed at the remark and 
tried to cheer him up, as he seemed a bit blue ; 
but he only answered my jokes with a more 
serious manner, saying ; ' I feel It coming. Some- 
times when I get home from an entertainment or 
banquet, especially these wintry nights, I feel 
death reaching for me, as It were. I suppose 
ril take cold some night and go to bed, never to 
rise again.' The words were prophetic. A 
week ago last Wednesday night, sitting In a box 
at the theatre, he caught the cold that eventuated 
in his death." 

Dr. C. T. Alexander gave the history of Gen- 
eral Sherman's illness. The doctor had been al- 
most Incessantly at the General's bedside from the 
time his Illness began, and he had not had more 
than two hours' sleep any day since the previous 
Sunday. 

"The General, as Is known," he said, "caught 
cold Wednesday a week ago. The next day he 



118 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. , 

attended a wedding against the urgent advice of 
the members of his family. On Friday I was 
called in and found the General suffering from a 
cold and a sore throat. On Saturday he felt so 
much better that he wanted to keep an appoint- 
ment he had made for that day. On my advice, 
however, he desisted, and spent the day playing 
cards, I believe, with his family. Erysipelas set 
in on Sunday. He was flighty that day, and on 
Monday he became delirious. The erysipelas 
spread over his face, and the lymphatic glands in 
his neck became swollen. I applied treat- 
ment for the erysipelas. Wednesday came 
and there was no change for the better, but Gen- 
eral Sherman slightly rallied on Thursday morn- 
ing. His rally was not such as to Insure even 
faint hope of the General's recovery, and I so in- 
formed Siirgeon-General Moore at Washington. 
Friday was the turning-point for the patient. 
The erysipelas had almost completely dis- 
appeared, but the attack had left the General 
very much weakened. His old complaint, bron- 
chial trouble and asthma, I think, killed General 
Sherman. In his weakened condition he was 



HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEA TH, 119 

unable to throw off the mucus which gathered 
on his lungs. The mucus accumulated, and the 
General was slowly strangled to death. 

" I think he suffered greatly. There was 
always the quick respiration, the gasp for breath, 
but he bore everything without a murmur, and no 
one could have been more heroic. 

But now the great General was no more. He 
had passed over the dark river and has made his 
last march. Let the fife shriek and the drum 
sound the deathless song that was written for him, 
and will never die so lone as martial music lives — - 

Bring the good old bugle, boys, we'll have another song — 
Sing it with a spirit that will start the world along — 
Sing it as we used to sing it, fifty thousand strong, 
While we were marching through Georgia. 

(Chorus.) 

" Hurrah ! Hurrah ! we bring the jubilee ! 
Hurrah ! Hurrah ! the flag that makes you free ! ** 
So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea. 
While we were marching through Georgia. 

How the darkies shouted when they heard the joyful sound! 
How the turkeys gobbled which our commissary found! 



120 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

How the sweet potatoes even started from the ground, 
While we were marching through Georgia. 

(Chorus.) 

Yes, and there were Union men who wept with joyful tears, 
When they saw the honored flag they had not seen for years ; 
Hardly could they be restrained from breaking forth in cheers, 
While we were marching through Georgia. 

(Chorus.) 

" Sherman's dashing Yankee boys will never reach the coast ! " 
So the saucy rebels said, and 'twas a handsome boast — 
Had they not forgot, alas ! to reckon with the host, 
While we were marching through Georgia. 

(Chorus.) 

So we made a thoroughfare for Freedom and her train, 
Sixty miles in latitude — three hundred to the main ; 
Treason fled before us, for resistance was in vain. 
While we were marching through Georgia. 

(Chorus.) 
BEFORE THE FUNERAL. 

Some two weeks before his death General 
Sherman made known his wishes as to his burial. 
He particularly requested that his body should 
not lie In state anywhere. 

He also requested that the funeral be a strictly 



HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DFA Tff. 121 

military one. He said he did not care partic- 
ularly for any military observances here in New- 
York, but that he did want a military burial in St 
Louis, w^hich w^ould be participated in by his 
old comrades in arms. He also requested that the 
funeral rites be not in conformity with any 
particular form of religion. He wanted a soldier's 
burial. 

In the evening a number of veterans called at the 
house, and expressed surprise when told they could 
not enter, and were more surprised when told 
that General Sherman's body would not lie in state. 
" It's pretty hard not to be able to look on the 
face of our old commander again," said one, 
and this seemed the opinion also of his com- 
panions. A military guard was placed in the 
hall-way of the residence at 7.30 o'clock in the 
evening and remained there until the body 
removed. The guard consist of two men from 
the First Regiment, United States Artillery. 

The casket was of oak, with black broadcloth 
covering. The lining of white satin and the bars 
and mountings of silver. The silver plate bore a 
very simple and brief inscription : 



122 LIFE OF GENERAL JVM. T. SHERMAN. 

WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN. 

Born Feb. 8, 1820. 
Died Feb. 14, 1891. 

It was General Sherman's own wish that his 
body should not lie in state or his face be shown 
after death to any but his family and nearest 
friends. He left explicit directions on this 
subject. 

At the earnest solicitation, however, of thousands 
of General Sherman's friends, his family finally 
decided to allow the public to see the remains. 

" In the darkened parlors of his home lay the 
body of General Sherman, with the trappings of 
his rank set off by flowers sent by loving- friends, 
heedless of them all and of the sad procession 
which passed beside the coffin. 

" How grand a face it was ! How steady, firm, 
untroubled ! How high and broad the forehead, 
and what tracincrs of the soldier were written 
deep by the hand of time in the lines about the 
austere yet kindly mouth, and the bold, aquiline 
nose and adamantine chin ! 

"From ten to four the doors of the Sherman 
mansion were left open to the public, and during 



HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DBA TH. 123 

the six hours a steady stream of callers passed 
into the house and looked upon the dead. Armed 
sentinels stood at each door to see that no un- 
worthy person was given access, but no one of 
decent appearance and serious mien was barred 
out. 

" The coffin was placed in the middle room, 
between the front parlor and the dining-room, 
resting on a catafalque, and the soft illumination 
irom seven tapers which stood in a tall, brass can- 
delabra at the head fell like a benediction upon 
the face. A glass cover was above the face, and 
all that could be seen through this sombre frame 
was the face and bust clothed in the General's 
uniform, with yellow sash, and the right hand lying 
peacefully upon the breast. 

REMEMBERED BY MRS. PORTER. 

" There were no flowers on the casket, nothing 
but the accoutrements used on any such occasion — 
the gold and diamond hiked sword presented by 
the State of New York and the cap — but just 
beyond the head was a phalanx of magnificent 
floral tributes, and the dark pedestal of the marble 



124 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

bust of Sherman which stood beside the foot of 
the coffin was decorated with a wreath of ivy. 

" In the front parlor, not far away, hung the 
life size portraits of the General and his wife, the 
former festooned by two large flags, one of which 
was his blue headquarters flag, the other a large 
silken banner made and presented by some ladies. 

" Beside the blof candlesticks was the token 
which touched deeper than all else the hearts 
of the mourning family. It was an exquisite 
pillow wrought in violets, which came from Wash- 
ington the day before * with loving regards,' from 
the newly-made widow of Admiral Porter. 

"There was one busy figure in the room, to 
whose deft fingers was due the credit for the 
tasteful adorning of the place. It was the 
widow of the famous cavalry general, Judson 
Kilpatrlck, who has been at the house every day 
since death entered it, performing little offices of 
friendship such as only a woman can do.'* 

EXPRESSING SYMPATHY. 

Among the floral tributes were some lovely 
palms sent from Ohio by the grandchildren of 
Zachary Taylor ; a wreath of ivy and white lilacs^ 



HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEA TH. 125 

presented by Mme. Macchetta d'AllegrI and 
Blanche Roosevelt, of Paris ; a pillow of roses and 
calla lilies from the Ohio Commandery of the 
Loyal Legion, a bunch of callas from Mr. and 
Mrs. Benjamin Field, a wreath of ivy from Mrs. 
Lawton and a bunch of lilies from Mr. and Mrs. 
Pinchat. 

As the afternoon passed the crowd increased, 
and by night thousands of people of all classes, 
ages and sexes had taken a last look at the face 
of the nation's dead General. It was one of the 
grandest testimonials of respect and love that 
could be paid by an appreciative public to one 
who had been a leader in times of trouble and a 
friend and one of the people in time of peace. 
As the stream of persons entered the house, 
passed by the casket and then out into the street 
again, many touching scenes were witnessed. 
Many old soldiers — some in the uniform of the 
Grand Army — were unable to restrain their grief. 

At half-past five the doors were closed and the 
family and others of the household assembled in 
the parlor and took their final look at the face of 
their father, brother, friend. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE FUNERAL.* 

"XJEW YORK gave General Sherman yester- 
day a most impressive farewell. The sun at 
noon shone upon a city draped with the emblems 
of sorrow. It shed upon the parting at dusk, 
when the escorting army, with trailing arms and 
shrouded flags, had discharged its tender office, a 
glowing benediction. The heart of the com- 
munity was touched by this event as it had not 
been since the chieftain of the great triumvirate 
of Generals of the rebellion passed to his final 
bivouac at Riverside. 

Again the people laid aside their usual pursuits 
and thronged the line of march, a countless, 
hushed multitude. From end to end the route 
was lined almost to the point of crushing with 
those whose presence will make the day memor- 
able alike for its occasion and for the number of 

* From The New York Times. 
126 



THE FUNERAL, 127 

its participants as witnesses, for the multitude 
became more than mere lookers-on when by the 
block they stood uncovered while the caisson with 
its flag-wrapped burden and the carriages of the 
mourners passed along. 

A soldier's funeral it was above all else, but it 
was more than that. For miles the streets were 
in the sombre garb of almost continuous crape- 
bound draperies. The weakh of tribute of this 
kind made in itself a splendid offering to a hero's 
memory. No section stood alone or conspicuous 
in so honorinor the event. From the neiorhbor- 
hood in which the old General had his home to 
the ferry at which his body was embarked, the 
decorative remembrances of the affection in which 
his fellow-citizens held hinj were lavish and beau- 
tiful. The city became one great neighborhood 
in its desire to express a common bereavement. 

It was more than a soldier's funeral also be- 
cause of the memories inspired, and the evidences 
it displayed of the depleted veteran ranks. Bent 
and grizzled was the remnant of comrades In the 
march to the sea who turned out yesterday. The 
canes the Grand Army men carried were plainly 



128 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

no longer mere switches to all, and the efforts of 
many to conceal any real use for them had a 
touch of pathos about it that the multitude were 
not slow to see and appreciate. Over parts of 
the route there were uncovering of heads and 
tears In the eyes of women when the old soldiers 
passed, as though, perhaps, they might not be 
seen together In such numbers much longer. 
The tolling church bells were sad Indeed, as the 
Grand Army moved along. 

Outward tokens for the day were not confined 
to the line of march. They hung from house- 
fronts and shaded windows, and fluttered from 
flagstaffs throughout the metropolitan district. 
From the highest perch the outlook all day In 
every direction was dotted with flags at half-staff 
on land, at half-mast on the water. All the ship- 
ping on both rivers, in the Sound and In the bay 
was dressed for the sad occasion, and as far as 
the eye could reach' on Long Island, into New 
Jersey, and on Staten Island, the flag floated 
below the peak. 

Office and business buildings all over the city, 
regardless of proximity to the line of march, wore 



THE FUNERAL. 129 

the proper insignia, some of them being elabor- 
ately shrouded. Scarcely a city block omitted to 
give some token of the common sorrow by house- 
front drapery. There was a practical suspension 
of business throughout the city after noon. 

As the funeral pageant moved down the streets 
through long rows that formed the front rank of 
thousands upon thousands, there were many in 
the crowds who recalled and lived over again 
their emotions when the drum of the Recruiting 
Sergeant sounded at every cross-roads and in 
every village street. Mothers and wives were 
there, who thirty years ago bade good-bye to their 
beloved ones, half glad, half sorrowful, and as the 
troops rumbled down the streets after the corpse 
of one of the foremost figures of that day the 
pictures all came back to them, the good-byes were 
told again, the tears were shed afresh. 

Out of the dull tread of the soldiers there 
came to some of the sight-seers a vision of the 
weary days of waiting, the news of battle, the 
anxious scanning of newspapers, the awful haste 
to the front for remains or to the hospital for 
tender ministrations. Then came remembrances 
9 



130 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

of crushed and bleeding hearts and of vacant 
chairs at the fireside — such indeed are pictures of 
the days when Sherman and his armies fought their 
way to greatness and victory. 

From the standpoint of these private citizens 
who thronged the streets along the line of 
march, it was a day never to be forgotten. For 
two hours before the great column began to move 
the streets along which it was to pass were like 
mighty rivers toward which there constantly 
flowed many tributaries. The strong arm of the 
police did its best to stem the current, and every 
inch of encroachment was contested stubbornly, 
but with only partial success, until, amid clatter- 
ing hoofs, shrill-blowing trumpets, and rattling 
sidearms, the advance guard rode slowly down 
the streets. Then the crowd compressed its 
struggling members back to the curb, and for two 
hours and a half it witnessed a memorable 
pageant. 

It was at Madison Square that the crowds as- 
sumed the greatest proportions, and there, where 
the street was broad and where many thousands 
viewed its movements, the procession seemed to 



THE FUNERAL. 131 

assume a more pronounced air of stateliness than 
had characterized its march elsewhere. A dirge- 
breathing band, cadencing the mournful time of 
the funeral march, wheeled first into view. The 
sadness of its strains, the long files of crape-cov- 
ered colors which followed, the badges of mourn- 
ing on every breast and on every arm, the 
inverted muskets, the tolling bells of neigh- 
boring churches, the furrowed faces of the 
mourners, each brought an air of new impres- 
siveness upon the scene, and told of the Nation's 
loss. 

The rumble of artillery and the pounding hoofs 
of the cavalry horses — music of iron on stone — 
were fitting preludes to the oncoming bier of the 
dead warrior. Stout horses straining under their 
death-dealing cannon, grim and red-plumed ar- 
tillerymen urging them on, flashes of angry crim- 
son mingling with the blue — this is what the 
crowds saw passing to the muffled throb of a 
hundred drums. Glimpses of Drum Majors 
here and there, stripes of red and white once 
free, now close enfolded by bands of sombre 
crape ; breasts on which stood forth medals and 



132 LIFE OF GENERAL VVM. T. SHERMAN. 

badges won on the fields of battle years ago, all 
whirled by in a confusion of battle array. 

Then came the pall-bearers. An added sense 
of melancholy confronted the sight-seer as these 
veterans came into view. The brave Schofield ; 
Howard, who gave an arm to the cause while 
commanding Sherman's right wing ; Braine, whose 
shells crashed against Forts Fisher and Anderson ; 
Greer, who fought beside Porter at Vicksburg ; 
Sickles, Dodge and Corse ; Swayne, Woodford, 
WriMit and Moore, brave men and true — these 
did the last honors beside the bier of their lament- 
ed chieftain. There was another face among 
them — that of Johnston, the same Joseph E. 
Johnston who threw himself and his army before 
Sherman in the march to the sea — the same 
Johnston who, in April, 1865, surrendered to the 
soldier whose corpse he was following in sorrow. 

But now came a hush. The dead Conqueror ! 
High on the funeral catafalque, under a covering 
black as night, where the sun kissed only the 
canopy that hid him, he came, not leading, but led ; 
no longer victorious, but himself surrendered. 
Borne on the crisp air came the sobbing and sigh- 



THE FUNERAL. 183 

ing of flute and drum that sang of the Nation's 
sorrow; yet they told no story half so sad, they 
touched no heart half so deep, as did the mass of 
reverent blackness that bore him as a cloud. 

There was a little interval after this, and then 
came the two rows of closed carriao-es containing 
the family, the relatives, and the nearest friends. 
The blinds were tightly drawn to hide them from 
the curious eye. The hush of silent sympathy 
was soon broken as the carriages of the President 
and Vice-President, and those of ex-Presidents, 
Cabinet, Ambassadors, and committees rumbled 
into view and, with their coming, the spirits of the 
throng seemed to rise and to brighten. Those 
who had just parted were the heroes of a former 
generation; these were the heroes- of to-day. 
Thousands turned their eyes toward the favorites 
in this group of statesmen, and for each there was 
a word of praise or an exclamation that betokened 
recognition and admiration. 

Next strode the comrades of his campaign and 
battles — the men who, of all others, could best 
recoo^nize his crreatness, and in so doin^r feel his 
loss. They came from a hundred battle-fields. 



134 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

The colors that they bore were only shreds, yet 
every fibre of those tatters was wound about the 
hearts of the men who marched beneath them. 

An unbroken mile of these veterans followed, 
each post bearing the flag it carried through the 
war. Then came the cadets from West Point. 
The sturdy gray of their coats and trousers, the 
wonderful precision of their white belts and 
straps, the spotlessness of their gloves, and the 
splendid line they kept as they marched down the 
street is one of the noticeable features of a long- 
to-be-remembered day. Their marching was far 
better than that of those veterans who went 
before, but then, their hearts are lighter, their 
years less. 

Last of all came the National Guard, all in blue 
and gold, with pieces at right shoulder, bayonets 
fixed, and lines splendidly kept. The New York 
man who watched them from the crowd felt an 
absorbing interest of a not wholly impersonal sort 
as they marched by, for they belong to his city and 
State. Then an aide galloped by, his scabbard 
swinging and his golden aiguillette gleaming in 
the last rays of day. The crowd welled in behind 



THE FUNERAL, 135 

him like a flood. Sherman's body had gone out 
and into the west toward the sinkinof sun. 



AT THE SHERMAN RESIDENCE — BRIEF FUNERAL 

SERVICES — FORMATION AND START OF 

THE PAGEANT. 

Hardly had the day dawned before the people 
in the neighborhood of West Seventy-first Street 
were astir. Flags were thrown out from hun- 
dreds of windows heavily draped in black. Police 
Captain Berghold was early on hand with a force 
of sixty men. Before 9 o'clock there was need 
for their services, for the crowd was then biof 
enough to need watching. 

In the Sherman house all was quiet. The fam- 
ily were getting a little sleep, their rest having 
been broken by the late arrival from Europe of 
Father ''Tom" Sherman. The son did not see 
his father's body until 7 o'clock yesterday morn- 
ing. Then, in company with his brother, P. T. 
Sherman, and his two sisters, he went into the 
room where the body lay. The lid of the casket 
w^as open and the four children of the soldier 
stood by his bier for several moments. After they 



136 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

had retired a message was sent to President Har- 
rison at the Fifth Avenue Hotel saying that the 
coffin would be kept open until noon in order 
that he might take a farewell look at the remains. 
The President answered, thanking them for their 
courtesy, but saying that he did not care to see 
the body, as he preferred to remember the Gen- 
eral as in life. The casket was kept open, how- 
ever, and many of the Presidential party and 
other distinguished men, viewed the rugged 
face. 

In the morning, just after the General's chil- 
dren left the casket, two old veterans approached 
a policeman at the door and asked him if they 
could see the body. One wore a ragged old army 
coat. The other wore over his uniform a leather 
jacket, and on his head was an old coon-skin hat. 
Both wore the badges of the famous Sixth Army 
Corps and of a Springfield (Mass.) Grand Army 
of the Republic Post. When they were told that 
they had come too late, their faces fell, and one 
of them said: 

"We came all the way from Springfield to see 
our old commander. We marched with him to 



THE FUNERAL. 137 

the sea. That was a lono^ time aero, and we ain't 
seen him since." 

The old fellows were so sorely disappointed 
and they gazed so wistfully at the house that the 
heart of an orderly who stood by was touched, 
and he told their story to Lieut. Thackara, the 
General's son-in-law. The Lieutenant came down 
and personally invited them in. They accepted 
with alacrity. As they stood beside the casket 
the old fellow with the coon-skin hat said : 

" I saw him last near Atlanta, under heavy fire. 
I remember now how we cheered him as he 
rode by." 

As the veterans came down the stone steps the 
two biggest policemen in New York — Graham, 
6 feet yh inches, and GIblln, 6 feet 5^ inches — 
gave them a military salute. Such distinguished 
recognition staggered the old fellows for the 
moment. Recovering, however, they returned 
the salute with great dignity, locked arms, and 
marched off. 

By 10 o'clock the crowd around the residence 
had grown to such proportions that Seventy-first 
Street was cleared and police lines were estab- 



138 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

llshed at Eighth and Columbus Avenues. There- 
after nobody was allowed to pass through with- 
out especial authority. The sidewalks of all the 
adjacent streets were, however, lined with people. 
The busy "fakir" appeared as usual, and was 
everywhere howling out that he had the " only 
original Sherman memorial badge." 

Shortly after 1 1 o'clock carriages began to ar- 
rive at the house bringing mourners and distin- 
guished guests. Chauncey M. Depew and 
Grover Cleveland were at the house before noon. 
Secretary Blaine and Gen. Ewing arrived just 
after noon. 

The private funeral services were held at noon. 
There were present in the parlor at the time the 
Rev. Father Taylor, the Rev. George Deshon, a 
Paullst Father ; the Rev. Father " Tom " Sher- 
man, the Rev. Neil H. McKennon, a Jesuit priest; 
members of the Sherman, Ewing and Hoyt fam- 
ilies, and Secretaries Rusk and Noble. Father 
Sherman and Father Taylor officiated, the former 
reading a brief service and the latter saying the 
regular prayers for the dead. The surpliced boy 
choir of the Church of St. Francis Xavler stood 



THE FUNERAL. 139 

around the casket, and after the holy water had 
been sprinkled, rendered the anthem, " If Thou, 
O Lord, will Mark Iniquities." This was followed 
by Psalm cxxix., *' De Profundis," " Out of the 
Depths I have Cried to Thee, O Lord, Lord Hear 
My Voice," and the " Pater Noster. " The ser- 
vices lasted only fifteen minutes. Then the 
casket was finally sealed. Senator John Sherman 
was the last to look upon the General's face. 

Father Sherman was seen at the conclusion of 
the service. He said : " The service was Cath- 
olic. My father was baptized in the Catholic 
Church, married in the Catholic Church, and at- 
tended the Catholic Church until the outbreak of 
the civil war. Since that time he has not been a 
communicant of any Church ; but he has re- 
peatedly told me that if he had any regular re- 
ligious ideas they were Catholic. A week ago 
to-day my father received absolution and extreme 
unction at the hands of Father Taylor. He was 
unconscious at the time, but that has no import- 
ant bearing, for the sacraments can properly be 
administered to any person whose mind can be 
interpreted as desirous of receiving them." 



140 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. ' 

By I o'clock the neighborhood was echoing 
with the sounds of martial music. The various 
divisions of the great parade were beginning to 
arrive at the points assigned to them in the plan 
of formation. Shortly after i o'clock Inspector 
Steers rode through Seventy-first Street at the 
head of fifty mounted policemen, who were to 
head the procession. Following them came the 
regular military escort, consisting of a regiment 
of United States marines, four companies of 
United State engineers, six companies of artillery, 
three battalions of light artillery, a troop of 
United States cavalry, and Lafayette Post. This 
division lined up along the south side of Seventy- 
first Street, facing the residence. 

Members of the Presidential party. Senators, 
Congressmen, Governors and their staffs, army 
and navy officers, and other distinguished people 
who were to ride in carriages were arriving at this 
time in a steady stream. They entered the house 
and remained there until directed to enter their 
carriages. President Harrison, with Gen. Hor- 
ace Porter and Elijah Halford, drove up at 1.50 
o'clock in an open carriage. The President wore 



THE FUNERAL. 141 

a coat with sealskin trimmings and was snuggled 
down behind a bearskin robe. 

The street presented a most brilliant appear- 
ance before 2 o'clock. The Sherman residence 
had become overcrowded, and the army and navy- 
officers, in rich gold and dark blue uniforms, with 
heavily-braided overcoats, had grouped them- 
selves about on the stone steps. Residents along 
the street had of course invited all their friends to 
come to their houses for the day, and consequently 
every window and doorway was crowed with men 
and women. 

Just before 2 o'clock the caisson rumbled into 
sight from Columbus Avenue. It was drawn by 
five coal-black horses In sombre trappings. There 
were three horses abreast in the leading traces 
and two spirited animals were behind them. Two 
of the horses were ridden by artillerymen in blue 
uniforms, with black helmets and red plumes. The 
caisson was draped in black. Behind the caisson 
there came a soldier leading a pure black, high- 
spirited steed covered with a long, black velvet 
housing reaching half-way to the ground. On 
the horse's back were Gen. Sherman's old saddle 



142 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

and his riding boots, the boots being reversed. 
Presently the heavy doors of the residence were 
opened, the honorary pall-bearers came out, and, 
descending the steps, ranged themselves in two 
lines to permit the coffin to be carried between 
them. 

Half-way down the block toward Central Park 
there sounded the quick notes of the bugle. 
" Attention !" was its warning. Scarcely had the 
notes died away when Gen. Butterfield, the senior 
marshal, and his staff, In their brilliant uniforms, 
cantered along to take their places at the head of 
the column, following the escort of police. Gen. 
Butterfield's aides were : Mr. Loyall Farragut ; 
Capt. H. P. Kingsbury, Sixth Cavalry ; Capt. A. 
M. Wetherlll, Sixth Infantry; First Lieut. R. H. 
Patterson, First Artillery; First Lieut. L. A. 
Craig, Sixth Cavalry ; First Lieut. Guy Howard, 
First Lieut. Harry C. Benson, Fourth (^avalry ; 
First Lieut. David Price, First Artillery ; First 
Lieut. Charles G. Treat, Fifth Artillery; First Lieut. 
W. \V. Forsyth, Sixth Cavalry; Second Lieut. Sam- 
uel Rodman, Jr., First Artillery; Additional Second 
Lieut. Colden L. H. Ruggles, First Artillery. 



THE FUNERAL, 143 

The doors of the residence were again opened, 
and the pall-bearers and those around them rev- 
erently uncovered their heads as there appeared 
in view the coffin of the dead General. The 
bright sun shone warmly on the rich colors of the 
starry silken flag in which it was wrapped. Bright 
were its crimson bars and deeply azure was the 
field of blue. Around the flag was a long fringe 
of yellow silk. Tenderly the soldiers bore their 
precious burden down the winding flight of steps. 
Women standing at the windows of the houses on 
both sides of the street, who but a moment before 
had watched for the coffin with expectant eyes, 
drew back in tears when It came into sight. 

As the casket bearers approached the shrouded 
caisson there was heard the music of the diree, 
''Adeste Fideles." Faint at first and borne sadly 
on the wind, the notes of the dirge grew louder 
and clearer. The soldiers placed the coffin on 
the caisson, and the members of Lafayette Post, 
No. 140, Grand Army of the Republic, composing 
the special guard of honor and dressed in post 
uniform, without overcoats, moved up and formed 
a hollow square around the caisson. 



144 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

The honorary pall-bearers, in carriages, took 
their places ahead of the caisson. They were as 
follows: Major-General J. M. Schofield, Major- 
General O. O. Howard, Major-General Henry W. 
Slocum, Rear Admiral D. L. Braine, Rear Ad- 
miral J. A. Green, Prof. H. L. Kendrick, General 
Joseph E. Johnston, Major-General D. E. Sickles, 
Major-General G. M. Dodge, Major-General J. 
M. Corse, Major-General Wager Swayne, Major- 
General Stewart L. Woodford, Major-General 
Horatio G. King, Brig.-General John Moore, 
United States Army. 

The column moved at 2.30 o'clock. After the 
caisson came the carnages. In the first were 
father T. E. Sherman, P. T. Sherman, and the 
Misses Rachel and Elizabeth Sherman. In the 
second carriage were United States Senator John 
Sherman and Mrs. Sherman and Major Hoyt 
Sherman and Mrs. Sherman. In the third car- 
riage were General Thomas Ewing's family, and 
In the other carriages were Mr. and Mrs. Colgate 
Hoyt, Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Fitch, the Rev, 
Fathers Deshon and Taylor, Mr. and Mrs. A. M. 
Thackara, Mrs. Henry Sherman, Mrs. Frank Wil- 



THE FUNERAL. 145 

borg, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Hoyt, General N. A. 
Miles and wife, Charles Sherman, Mrs. Henry 
Hoyt, Senator and Mrs. J. Donald Cameron, Mr. 
and Mrs. H. R. Probasco, Dr. and Mrs. William 
K. Otis, A. W. Hoyt, Arthur Sherman, Charles 
Ewing, Jr., Miss Elizabeth Thackara, Miss Vir- 
ginia Ewing, Benjamin Thackara, J. M. Barrett, 
Secretary of State James G. Blaine and wife and 
Emmons Blaine, and Mrs. Walter Damrosch, Miss 
Eliza Scott, William Scott, Mr. and Mrs. Bolton 
Hall, Mr. and Mrs. John Scott, Mr. and Mrs. 
Bowie Dash, the Rev. and Mrs. William Brown, 
Mr. and Mrs. T. E. Steele, Judge and Mrs. 
Granger, Mrs. and Mrs. J. F. Elliott, James Scott, 
Mrs. General Grant, Col. John M. Bacon, Col. L. 
M. Dayton, Mrs. Quirk, Dr. C. T. Alexander, 
United States Army ; Private Secretary Barrett, 
Col. Reese, Miss Alexander, William McCoomb, 
Miss L. Alexander, Mr. and Mrs. B. Walker, 
Mrs. John Lynch, Mrs. Emeline Kane, James W. 
Collier, Miss Morgan, Mrs. Kilpatrick, Dr. 
Robert H. Green and Mrs. Green. 

Then came the distinguished visitors in open 

carnages. In the first carnage were President 
10 



146 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

Harrison and Private Secretary E. J. Halford. In 
the next carriage was Vice-President Levi P. 
Morton, and in other carriages were General M. 
D. Leggett, Secretary of War Redfield Proctor, 
Attorney-General W. H. H. Miller, Postmaster- 
General John Wanamaker, Secretary of the In- 
terior John W. Noble, Secretary of Agriculture, 
Jer. M. Rusk, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin 
F. Tracy, Colonel Ernest and General A. B. Net- 
tleton. Ex-President R. B. Hayes and Joseph H. 
Choate rode together, and behind them was a 
carriage containing Ex-President Grover Cleve- 
land and Chauncey M. Depew. After them came 
United States Senators William M. Evarts, of 
New York ; Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut ; 
Charles F. Manderson of Nebraska ; and Fran- 
cis M. Cockrell, of Missouri. In other carriages 
were the members of the committee appointed by 
the National House of Representatives to attend 
the funeral, as follows : General B. M. Cutcheon ; 
of Michigan ; General Charles H. Grasvenor, of 
Ohio ; General William Cogswell, of Massachu- 
setts ; General Thomas J. Henderson, of Illinois ; 
J. H. Outhwaite, of Ohio ; E. J. Dunphy, of New 



THE FUNERAL, 147 

York, In place of General Francis B. Spinola and 
John C. Tarsney, of Missouri. 

Governor Hill of New York was not able 
to attend the funeral on account of sickness 
and his place was taken by Lieutenant-Governor 
E. F.Jones. 

Among others In carriages were Mayor Hugh J. 
Grant, Captain Schofield, of the Second Cavalry ; 
Governor Pattlson, of Pennsylvania, and staff; 
Governor Morgan G. Bulkeley, of Connecticut, 
and staff; Lieutenants Bliss and Andrews of the 
artillery, and General Warren, who commanded 
the old Sixth Corps; the Rev. Mounsell Van 
Rensselaer, Richard Butler, J. W. PInchot, the 
Rev. Alexander Mackay-Smith, Logan C. Murray, 
A. M. Palmer, Augustin Daly, W. W. Cooper, 
Stephen B. Elkins, Benjamin Field, Archbishop 
Corrigan, Hamilton Fish, D. O. Mills, Ex-Mayor 
Hewitt, Ex-Mayor Edward Cooper, Cyrus W. 
Field, David Dudley Field, Archbishop Ryan, of 
Philadelphia ; Dr. Metcalf, General Z. B. Tower, 
Hiram Hitchcock, Quartermaster-General Batch- 
elder, Assistant Secretary of War Lewis A. 
Grant, George _^W. Childs and Anthony J. 



148 LIFE OF GENJSRAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

Drexel, of Philadelphia, and General C. H. T. 
Collis. 

The Legislature of the State was represented 
by Senators Saxton, Jacobs, Vedder, Robertson, 
Brown, Sloan, Erwin, Stadler, and Assemblymen 
F. O. Chamberlain, Addison S. Thompson, Levi 
E. Worden, R. P. Bush, George P. Webster, Jacob 
Rice and I. Sam Johnson. 

As the head of the column, the military guard, 
caisson and carriages passed out into Eighth 
Avenue, the Loyal Legion, which had formed at 
Eighth Avenue and Seventy-first street, fell in. 
The Grand Army of the Republic posts, which 
had formed on the cross streets west of Eighth 
Avenue, from Sixty-first street up, took their 
places in turn, and the corps of cadets from West 
.Point, which had formed at Sixty- first Street and 
Eighth Avenue, fell in behind the Grand Army of 
the Republic division. This opened the line to 
the division of the National Guard of the State, 
which had formed with Its head resting at Six- 
tieth Street and Eighth Avenue, and after that 
division had joined the column the miscellan- 
eous organizations, which had formed along 



THE FUNERAL. 149 

Sixtieth Street and up the Boulevard, took their 
positions. 

AI.ONG THE LINE OF MARCH— THE STORY O^ THE 
PROCESSION TOLD BY A PARTICIPANT. 

If was precisely 2. 02 o'clock when the call of 
** Attention ! " sounded by the bugler of the Grand 
Marshal, gave warning to the escort that the time 
had arrived for the column to move. As the cas- 
ket was brought down the steps of the house, 
borne on the shoulders of six regular army ser- 
geants, who had been detailed to accompany the 
body of General Sherman to St. Louis, the sev- 
eral bands of the United States Artillery force 
^.nd of the Marine Corps battalions successively 
took up the customary dirge from left to right, 
the band of the leading organization completing 
this part of the ceremony with a solemn rendition 
of the "Adeste Fideles." Simultaneously with 
the opening of the familiar hymn every head was 
uncovered and the multitude of sight-seers, mem- 
bers of the posts of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, and others remained for some time in 
eager expectancy. 



150 LIFE OF GENERAL JVM, T. SHERMAN. 

Several minutes later General Daniel Butter- 
field and the members of the staff of the Grand 
Marshal clattered through Seventy-first Street 
and forced their way down Eighth Avenue to take 
their appointed place at the head of the column. 
Then came another delay while the family and 
mourners were getting Into their respective car- 
riaores and the carrlao^es Into line. The foot 
troops of the escort blocked the way, but finally 
it was ordered that the Infantry should take posi- 
tion in column of fours between the sections of 
artillery, and by this order the way was cleared 
for putting the procession in motion. It was 
precisely 2.30 o'clock when the march began. 

Eighth Avenue from Seventy-first to Sixty-first 
Street was lined on either hand by the posts of 
the Grand Army of the Republic. Flanking and 
supporting these battle-scarred veterans was such 
a multitude of on-lookers as New York has not 
seen since the Washington Centennial parade of 
1889, and which was not surpassed, even if it 
were equaled, by the outpouring attending the 
obsequies of General Grant. Central Park was 
occupied as it had never been occupied before. 



THE FUNERAL. 151 

Every point of vantage had been pre-empted by 
sight-seers hours before the time appointed for 
the procession to start. 

Throughout this portion of the route the scene 
was pecuHarly impressive. By direction no music 
v/as played by the bands of the escort, but, as 
each of the Grand Army corps came into view of 
the caisson conveying the remains, colors were 
dipped, heads were uncovered, rolls were beaten 
on muffled drums, or dirges were sounded by the 
bands of the various organizations. 

Wheeling into Fifty-seventh Street from Broad- 
way the column encountered an obstacle which 
materially retarded its progress. The greater 
portion of the street being taken up with building 
material, it became necessary for the cavalry and 
artillery to deploy from column of platoons into 
column of sections, and for the infantry organiza- 
tions to change their formation from column of 
companies to column of fours, thus extending the 
escort to quite double its original length and com- 
pelling a halt of the head of the procession until 
the line could be reformed. 

The parade strength of the Grand Army of the 



162 LIFE OF GENERAL VVM. T, SHERMAN, 

Republic was measurably a disappointment, and 
It was not until the funeral escort proper had un- 
covered Sixty-first Street that the impressiveness 
of the pageant began to make Itself manifest. At 
this point the Old Guard, covered almost com- 
pletely from view by a Grand Army post, its bear- 
skin shakos beine alone visible from the Interior 
of the procession, marked the left of the line of 
military mourners. Drawn up on the west side 
of the avenue, covering the intervening blocks 
from Fifty-ninth to Sixty-first Street, and standing 
rigid at present arms, was the battalion of cadets 
from the United States Military Academy at West 
Point. Here was a superb body of soldiery, every 
youngster In the corps trained to the extreme of 
perfection. 

Then came the Seventh Regiment, a long line 
of blue and white, covering all of Fifty-seventh 
Street from Eighth to Sixth Avenue and beyond. 

In the course of the passage of the funeral 
cortege along the front of the military organiza- 
tions, appropriate selections were played by the 
bands of the several organizations. Thus the 
musicians of the West Point cadets played an ap- 



THE FUNERAL. 153 

proprlate dirge with exquisite taste and expres- 
sion ; Leypoldt's Twelfth Regiment Band played 
a selection of similar character equally well, while 
Cappa, of the Seventh Regiment, greeted the 
cortege with the opening strain of " The Gen- 
eral's March," as presented in Tactics. Conterno, 
the younger, who had charge of the Ninth Regi- 
ment Band, Conterno pire parading with the 
Marine Corps at the head of the Navy Yard 
Band, performed a dirge of his own arrange- 
ment, while Eben, of the Seventy-first, gave 
an exquisite rendering of Chopin's " Funeral 
March." 

But it was left to the Gilmore to create the mus- 
ical sensation of the day by his elevation of the 
hackneyed air, which has been sung and played 
from end to end of the land, in celebration of the 
memorable march to the sea, and with which the 
name and fame of Gen. Sherman are irreparably 
connected. Gilmore transmitted the song of all 
popular songs into a dirge of the most impressive 
description by the simple expedient of changing 
the tempo. None but a Gilmore would have had 
the audacity to essay an undertaking of this 



154 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

kind. It Is stated that Gllmore mentioned his 
purpose to the members of General Sherman's 
family previous to the parade, and that they were 
delighted with the suggestion. It was fitting that 
the succession of dirges should be concluded at 
the right of the line by the Sixty-ninth Regiment, 
which, under the leadership of Bandmaster 
Bayne, gave out the always welcome "Auld Lang 
Syne," with such tender expressiveness as to draw 
tears from many eyes. 

Fifth Avenue, viewed from the place of Its 
junction with Fifty-seventh Street, presented an 
unbroken and seemingly Impenetrable mass of 
people. Twice before at this point of recent 
years — at the Grant obsequies and again on the 
occasion of the centennial parade — the crush at 
this point had been phenomenal. But yester- 
day's demonstration far surpassed the demonstra- 
tion upon either of those memorable occasions. 
Sidewalks, stoops, fences, balconies, windows, 
and even the housetops were covered with 
people. As a thoroughfare for pedestrians the 
avenue was hermetically closed, the only unin- 
cumbered space being the roadway, kept clear by 



THE FUNERAL. 155 

the admirable police arrangements for the passage 
of the procession. 

For blocks on either side of the main route of 
the procession groups were stationed on roofs and 
in windows to catch a glimpse of the passing 
cortege with the aid of opera-glasses. The driv- 
ers and proprietors of vans, stages and wagons 
did a profitable business at every cross-street, and 
when the vehicles could contain no more persons 
they rented out seats on the backs of the poor 
beasts attached to them. Even the church 
steeples were utilized to the fullest extent, and 
from the eyries of the lofty spires of St. Patrick's 
Cathedral eager faces looked down on the proces- 
sion. 

Only at the clubs and on the balconies of pri- 
vate residences was there a general uncovering 
as the caisson and its flag-draped casket came in 
view. Along the sidewalks it was only occasion- 
ally that a hat was raised, and it is worthy of note 
that from start to close of the parade but a single 
police officer offered this tribute of respect — a 
Sergeant in the vicinity of Thirtieth Street. 

A touching incident occurred at the orpl:an 



156 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN-. 

asylum, adjoining the Roman Catholic Cathedral, 
at Fiftieth Street. The grounds were crowded 
with spectators, in the centre of whom, occupying 
a commanding position, the cadets of the institu- 
tion, in full uniform, the oldest not above twelve 
years seemingly were drawn up at present arms. 

At the Union League, the Century, and the 
Knickerbocker Clubs, the quarters of the Seventh 
Regiment Veterans, the Vanderbilt, Whitney, 
Goelet, Wilson, and Vanderpoel residence, the 
Buckingham and Langham Hotels, the Ohio 
Society's quarters, the Victoria and Brunswick 
Hotels, the Brevoort House and the Berkeley, 
and the residences of Gen. Sickles and Gen. But- 
terfield the display of mourning emble^ms was 
especially notable. 

The most striking display, however, was un- 
questionably that presented by the Fifth Avenne 
Hotel. A heavy fringe of spectators on the 
roof brought the building Into striking promi- 
nence. Every window was occupied and the 
building was elaborately decorated. The artistic 
draping of the Hoffman House adjoining was also 
notable. 



THE FUNERAL, \bl 

In Madison Square a party of veterans had 
taken post on almost the identical spot where, 
a little less than two years ago, Gen. Sherman 
witnessed the review of the centennial parade by 
the President of the United States. 

The Manhattan Club was given over almost 
exclusively to the use of ladles, and a very pretty 
display of feminine loveliness was made at the New 
York Exchange for Women's Work. This pleas- 
ing feature was duplicated at the Church of the 
Ascension, where a platform had been erected 
which was occupied by several scores of women, 
while from each of the four corners of the tower 
of the church floated a crape-draped national 
color. 

It was something more than a coincidence 
that the procession should have passed over 
In reverse order almost Identically the same 
route covered by the great jubilee parade of 
April 30, 1889, of which Gen. Sherman was 
one of the conspicuous figures. There was 
much below Twenty-third Street to recall that 
event. As then, the residences of ex-Mayor 
Cooper, of Rhinelander Stewart, of Miss Rhine- 



158 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

lander, and of Charles A. Post gave outward 
evidence that the hearts of their occupants beat in 
sympathy with the public pulse, but the gay dec- 
orations of the centennial year had given place to 
the sombre emblems of grief and mourning. 

Going down Broadway from Washington Place 
to Canal Street the pace was quickened and the 
column moved without music. The escort 
wheeled Into line on the north side of Canal 
Street, and, as the funeral party passed along the 
front of the troops and the caisson and its pre- 
cious burden disappeared from view on board the 
ferry-boat, the Marine Band played the refrain of 
the old hymn : 

" Here bring your bleeding hearts, 
Here tell your anguish ; 
Earth has no sorrow- 
That Heaven cannot heal." 

ARRIVAL AT THE FERRY— THE REMAINS SALUTED 
BY THE CALIFORNIA PIONEERS 

Many thousands stood along Watts Street and 
on the east side and on the Pennsylvania ferry- 
house side of West Street. They waited pa- 
tiently, though the inquiry ** Are they coming 



THE FUNERAL, 159 

yet? " was frequently made. The breeze from 
the river was cold, and though the people on the 
street complained a lltde, they said that they were 
better off than the groups who stood on the roofs 
of the houses on the east side of W^st Street. 
Policemen were numerous. Tall Capt. Max 
Schmlttberger had out the whole steamboat 
squad. It was the first time that, as a Captain, 
he had appeared on such an occasion, but he was 
quite at home. 

Gen. Nugent, an old comrade of Gen. Sherman 
in the regular army, now retired, was present to 
take command of veterans other than those of the 
Grand Army who were expected to appear at the 
Desbrosses Street Ferry to salute the casket as it 
passed into the ferry-house. Gen. Nugent waited 
at the United States Building, 534 Canal Street, 
for a time. Nobody came, so he went over to 
the ferry and joined Capt. Francis D. Clark, Pres- 
ident of the Associated Pioneers of the Territorial 
Days of California, who was with Gen. Sherman 
in California in 1846. 

With Capt. Clark were these pioneers : W. M. 
Neely, Daniel W. Clegg, R. J. Paulison, Alex- 



160 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

ander Ludlow, Joseph M. Pray, Russell Myers, 
A. T. Goodell, George C. Royce, William Colll- 
gan, James E. Nutman, William Roberts, J. F. 
Wiley, William M. Walton and William B. Kin- 
ney. They lined up on the string-piece on the 
north side of the plank drive-way leading to the 
ferry-house entrance. 

The mounted police turned from Watts Street 
into West at five o'clock. They formed on both 
sides of West Street. The procession had les- 
sened materially when the ferry was reached. 
The gates were thrown open and Gen. Butter- 
field and his staff rode aboard the ferry-boat " Balti- 
more." They were followed immediately by the 
caisson and Lafayette Post. The members of the 
post went inside the ferry-house and then retired. 

The carriages containing those who were to 
board the special train on the Jersey side went 
down the gangway. Capt. Schmittberger and 
forty policemen followed, and without any delay 
the ferry-boat passed out of the slip and steamed 
down the river to the Jersey City station. 



THE FUNERAL. 161 

LEAVING JERSEY CITY — THE CASKET IN THE FIRST 
CAR OF A HEAVILY-DRAPED TRAIN. 

For several hours before the time appointed for 
the arrival of the special ferry-boat " Baltimore " 
from Desbrosses street at the Pennsylvania Railroad 
station slips In Jersey City, that place was a scene 
of bustle and preparation. The Fourth Regi- 
ment of New Jersey mllltia, under command of 
Lleut.-Col. Abernethy and numbering about 200 
men, was drawn up opposite the northerly slip, 
into which the boat was to come. A long double 
line of guards extended from that point through 
the ferry-house southward to Track 11, upon 
which the funeral train was to be made up. Sand- 
wiched In among these guards were about 140 
Jersey City policemen, who did little during the 
afternoon but interfere with arrangements that 
would otherwise have been excellent. 

Prompdy at the hour which had been settled 
upon for the arrival of the boat she appeared in 
the slip, and the order was given to present arms. 
The party proceeded to Track 11, the caisson be- 
ing driven to the head of the train opposite the 
11 



162 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

composite car, No. 671, in which the casket was 
to be placed. All but those who were going 
West returned to the city. 

The train which was to take the funeral party 
to St. Louis was composed of palace cars, all of 
them heavily draped in black. It was designated 
as Section No. 2 of the Western express, leaving 
at 6.45. The conductor of the train was George 
K. Deane, who was conductor of the Garfield 
funeral train, and the remainder of the train's 
crew was made up of Engineer George Roe, of 
Engine 1,328 and Brakemen T. C. Moore and L. 
S. Paxson. 

The flag-covered casket was transferred to the 
first car in the train, where guard over it was at 
once mounted by Sergts. Foley, Sohl, Nasahl, 
Reardon, Hogan and McCarthy, under command 
of Major W. F. Randolph, Inspector of Artillery 
at Governor's Island, who relieved Lieut. Rod- 
man, who had up to that time been in charge of 
the guard over the General's body. 

The next car was the Liverpool, occupied by 
Gov. Pattison,. of Pennsylvania, and his Cabinet. 
Then came the Danville. In this were Secretary 



THE FUNERAL. ^ ] 63 

and Mrs. Noble, General J. M. Schofield, General 
H. W. Slocum, General O. O. Howard, Secretary 
Rusk, Assistant Secretary Grant, Major Ran- 
dolph, Lieut. Guy Howard, Lieut. Andrews, Capt. 
Barnett, and Capt. H. P. Kingsbury. The dining 
car was next to the Danville, and then came the 
Abyo, in which were ex-President Hayes, General 
Thomas Ewing, Miss Virginia Ewing, Senator 
John Sherman, Alfred Hoyt, Mr. and Mrs. Charles 
Ewing, General and Mrs. N. A. Miles, George 
B. Ewing, Mrs. Frank Witorg, Henry Sherman, 
Mrs. Colgate Hoyt, Charles Sherman and Hoyt 
Sherman. In the Cadi were Judge and Mrs. 
Granger, Mr. and Mrs. T. E. Steele, Mr. and 
Mrs. H. R. Probasco, Col. L. M. Dayton, Col. 
John M. Bacon, General and'Mrs. Hugh Ewing, 
William McCoomb, Col. Reese, Private Secretary 
Barrett, and Dr. C. T. Alexander. 

Parlor car No. 1 20, President Roberts' private 
car, followed, and in it were the immediate mem- 
bers of General Sherman's family, not already 
mentioned, includinof Father Sherman, P. T. Sher- 
man. Miss Rachel E. Sherman, and Miss Eliza- 
beth Sherman. The President's car came next. 



164 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

It was Pennsylvania Railroad parlor car No. i8o, 
and besides President Harrison were Vice-Presi- 
dent Morton, Secretaries Proctor and Tracy, 
Postmaster-General Wanamaker, and Assistant 
Secretary A. B. Netdeton. This car was to be 
switched from the train at Mantua Junction, near 
Philadelphia, and sent to Washington direct,, 
with another section of the train, which was to be 
filled with Senators and Congressmen who had 
attended the funeral . 

Everybody had found his place on the train by 
the time it had been ordered to start and promptly 
at 6.45 it moved out of the station. 

ON ITS WAY TO THE WEST. 

When the funeral train left Harrisburg at 11 
o'clock that night, a cold rain was falling. This 
continued all night and when the train arrived in 
Pittsburgh it was still raining. The run during 
the nisfht was devoid of incident. Altoona was 
reached at 4.05. The Rev. S. P. Kelley, of Pitts- 
burgh, representing the local committee at that 
place, boarded the train here. The next stop 
was for water — at New Florence — at 5.30. 



THE FUNERAL, 165 

At Edgewood the train stopped long enough 
for three of Lieut. Fitch's children to get on. A 
Grand Army post of veterans was drawn up in 
line on the platform — standing with bared heads 
in the pouring rain until the train moved away. 
At Wilkinsburg, the next station, a similar scene 
was witnessed as the train rushed by. 

The train ran Into an open switch at Mansfield 
at 6,'^'], It was running at a slow rate at the 
time, which was the only thing which prevented a 
collision. Only five minutes* delay was caused. 
The trouble was due to one Thomas Irwin losing 
his presence of mind. There was a great crowd 
at the station, and Irwin was standing on the 
track when the train pulled In. Some one 
yelled to him to get out of the way. He became 
excited and threw the switch. 

Thousands of people had assembled near the 
Union Station In Pittsburgh when the train arrived, 
at 7.47 o'clock. As the train drew slowly into 
the station the great crowd uncovered heads, and 
the Eighteenth Regiment band struck up a low 
dirge. The veterans laid their tattered army 
flags beside the casket, with a floral emblem from 



166 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

the Union Veteran Legion. A heavily-draped 
engine drew up to take the place of the locomo- 
tive which had ended its run. The Eighteenth 
Regiment buglers played a soldier's requiem, 
" Rest," and the train resumed its sad journey to 
the West. At every suburban station, and 
even along the line, knots and crowds gathered 
and all uncovered in the momentary presence of 
the dead. In the city, as the train passed, 
bells tolled, and minute guns were fired from the 
hillsides, while all flags drooped at half-mast In the 
drivinor rain. 

The departure from Pittsburgh was at 7»io, 
Central time. The only additions to the party 
at this point v/ere Assistant Superintendent 
Turner, of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and Divi- 
sion Superintendent Bradley of the Western 
Union Company. Breakfast was served as 
soon as the train had got outside of the city 
limits on Its way westward. While the travelers 
were thus engaged the storm cleared away, the 
sun shone out brightly, and a pleasant day 
seemed to be in prospect. After they had break- 
fasted, the members of the family went forward to 



THE FUNERAL. 167 

the car containing the body of the General and 
remained there ten or fifteen minutes. They 
found several beautiful floral pieces that had been 
put on board by Grand Army posts. 

Many requests had been received from posts 
in towns through which the train was to pass that 
it might be allowed to stop at these places 
and the funeral car be opened to the veterans. 
General Howard had to refuse all these requests, 
as to comply with them would delay the progress 
of the train too much. The Ohio River was 
crossed at 8.40, and ten minutes later Steubenville, 
Ohio, was reached. Hundreds of workmen from 
the factories of the place were gathered at the 
station, where the train made a short stop. They 
were clad in their working clothes, but every man 
reverently removed his hat while the train re- 
mained at the station. 

A touching scene was witnessed here. About 
seventy-five veterans of Stanton Post were drawn 
up in line on the platform. They were all old 
men, many of them cripples, and as they marched 
by the car containing the General's body more 
than half of them were crying like children. 



168 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN, 

At Cadiz Junction, which was passed at 10.05, 
a number of veterans from Cadiz stood on the 
platform, one of their number holding the 
remnants of a battle-torn flag. Twenty-five min- 
utes later, as the train rushed by the little station 
of Scio, those in the cars caught a slight glimpse 
of a company of zouaves and a Grand Army post 
paraded in front of the station. Dennison was 
reached at 10.50. 

At Dennison a large crowd was gathered at 
the station, and the comrades of Welch Post, 
of Ulrichsville, Ohio, were there also. The door 
of the funeral car was opened and they were 
allowed to take a look at the casket. After a 
short stop here the train resumed its westward 
journey. 

At Newcomerstown all the public school chil- 
dren stood in line at the street crossing, with 
heads uncovered and carrying small flags edged 
with black. As the train passed by they could be 
heard singing "Nearer, My God, to Thee." At 
Coshocton over 500 school children stood in a 
long line on the street running parallel with the 
track while the train passed through the place. 



THE FUNERAL. 169 

The church and fire bells of the town were tolled. 
A similar demonstration was made at Trlnway. 

At 1.25 the train stopped In front of the station 
at Newark. Here Mrs. Granger and her son 
Sherman Granger boarded the train. Lemert 
Post had about one hundred men in line on the 
platform, and their fife and drum corps played 
"In the Sweet Bye and Bye" as the train came to 
a stop. The doors of the car In which the body 
was were opened and the veterans took a look at 
the casket as they passed. The entire trip from 
Pittsburgh to this point was interspersed with dem- 
onstrations of sorrow at the death of a universally 
beloved soldier and citizen by all classes of the 
people. The family of Gen. Sherman became, 
as the day passed and these signs of sorrow mul- 
tiplied, more and more impressed with the great 
love the people bore for the General. 

Father Thomas E. Sherman said that he would 
conduct the services at his father's grave In Cal- 
vary Cemetery in St. Louis. Just what the order 
of services would be he could not say until he 
arrived there. 

As the train rolled into the Union Station at 



170 LIFE OF GENERAL IVM. T. SHERMAN. 

Columbus at 2.25, the space on each side was 
crowded with people, and for squares away there 
was a mass struggling to get a view of the 
train. McCoy Post and Wells Post were in the 
station, accompanied by a drum corps. Senator 
Sherman, ex-President Hayes, Gen. Ewing, and 
others of the party came from the train and had 
a brief talk with relatives who had come to the 
train. The officers from the United States gar- 
rison in this city were at the train to meet the 
Government officials. A number of the relatives 
of the General from Lancaster and Zanesville, 
Ohio, joined the funeral party at this point. 

The parade of the military took place before 
the arrival of the train. The Seventeenth Regi- 
ment, Col. Pocock, about five hundred men, 
reached the Union Station half an hour before 
the funeral train arrived, and proceeded by the 
Baltimore and Ohio and Ohio and Mississippi to 
St. Louis. The Fourteenth Regiment, Col. A. B. 
Coit, about the same number of men, left at the 
same time over the Big Four route. The mem- 
bers of Gov. Campbell's staff accompanied the 
officers of the Fourteenth Regiment. The mem- 



THE FUNERAL. 171 

bers of the joint legislative committee designated 
to attend the funeral had a special car, which 
was attached to the regular Pan Handle train 
west, following the funeral train. 

A wait of forty-five minutes was given the fun- 
eral train at Columbus. The engine which was 
taken here was 394, in charge of Engineer Phil 
Chase, of Columbus, and Conductor H. M. May, 
of Indianapolis. The engine was elaborately 
draped and decorated. Above the headlight was 
a large-size crayon portrait of Gen. Sherman, 
surmounted by an eagle with spread wings, and 
beneath the picture was the Inscription, "Ohio's 
son, the Nation's hero," in large letters. The 
railings of the engine were studded with small 
flags with fringe drapery. The train pulled out 
on time — 3.15 p. m. 

At Columbus the funeral party was joined by 
William McComb, George Ewing, Judge and 
Mrs. R. B. Evvlncr, and Miss Ewinof. The widow 
of Gov. Dennlson entered the car occupied 
by the Sherman family and made" a call of a few 
minutes. 

At Richmond, Ind., Gov. Hovey met the party 



172 LIFE OF GENERAL VVM. T. SHERMAN, 

and escorted it to Indianapolis, accompanied by- 
Grand Commander Stormount, of the Grand 
Army. More than 10,000 people were at Rich- 
mond station to meet the train. A handsome 
floral tribute from Meredith Post was placed on 
the casket containing the body of Gen. Sherman. 
As soon as the old soldiers on the platform heard 
that Gen. Schofield was on the train they called for 
him. He came to the platform of his car and said: 
"There are a thousand of my children here that 
I know. I am glad to see so many of you in good 
health. It is under sad conditions that we meet. 
We have all lost a comrade and friend. Take 
good care of yourselves, boys, and good-bye." 

HE IS LAID IN HIS TOMB. 

The remains of Gen. William Tecumseh Sher- 
man were laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery with 
imposing ceremonies, combining severe simplicity 
and military grandeur in a manner that gave to 
St. Louisians and the thousands of strancrers who 

o 

came to participate or see the solemn show a 
spectacle that has rarely, if ever, been equaled in 
the West. 



THE FUNERAL. 173 

The weather was perfect. The sun shone 
brightly, affording sufficient heat to temper the 
bracino- breeze so that marchinof was not in the 
least fatiguing. The funeral took place almost 
exactly on time. The preliminaries had been so 
arranged that the great procession was very little 
late in moving, and there were but few inter- 
ruptions to its progress. The ceremonies at- 
tending the burial of the famous soldier passed off 
without any particularly unpleasant Incident or 
accident. 

As early as six o'clock in the morning crowds 
began to assemble in the vicinity of the Union 
Station in order to secure a vantage point from 
which to witness the arrival of the funeral train, 
which was due at 8.30. An hour before the train 
arrived the streets for many blocks in all direc- 
tions were a solid mass of humanity. At 8.45 
A.M. the funeral train pulled slowly Into the 
station, minute-guns stationed on Poplar Street, 
west of the Twelfth Street bridge, announcing the 
arrival. The firing continued until the train had 
come to a standstill, with the funeral car just west 
of Twelfth Street and the rear coach, containing 



174 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

the family and relatives, Immediately in front of 
the Poplar Street entrance. The entire train was 
draped in sombre black, the funeral car being 
completely covered with the emblems of mourn- 
ing-, even the doors and platforms. This car con- 
tained only the remains and the guard of honor, 
which was in charge of Second Lieut. Samuel 
Rodman, Jr. The guard consisted of Sergts. 
Gottlieb Maschl and John Reardon, of Battery G, 
and Eugene McCarthy, of Battery A, First 
Artillery, from Fort Hamilton ; Sergt. John E. 
Hogan, of Battery C, First Artillery, from Fort 
Wadsworth ; Sergt. Frederick Soule, of Battery 
H, and Sergt. Charles Foley. 

Next to the funeral cars was dining car No. 
704, then two Pullman palace cars, and at the end 
of the train the private car of President Roberts 
of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which 
was occupied by the members of the family, con- 
sisting of the Rev. Thomas E. Sherman, Misses 
Elizabeth and Rachel Sherman, Lieut. T. W. 
Fitch, Lieut, and Mrs. A. M. Thackara, Mr. P. T. 
Sherman, Mr. T. Fitch, and Miss Elizabeth 
Rees. In the car immediately ahead of the one 



THE FUNERAL, 175 

occupied by the family were Private Secretary 
Barrett, Mrs. Elizabeth Reese, Mr. and Mrs. 
Thomas Steele, Judge and Mrs. Andrews, Mr. and 
Mrs. Probasco, Cols. Dayton and Bacon, Gen. and 
*Mrs. Hugh Ewing, William McComb, Col. Reese, 
and Dr. Alexander. The other Pullman seats 
had been given Secretary Noble of the Interior 
Department, Secretary Rusk of the Agricultural 
Department, Gens. Schofield, Slocum, and 
Howard, Gen. and Mrs. Nelson A. Miles, Gen. 
and Mrs. Thomas Ewing, Judge P. B. Ewing, Mr. 
and Mrs. Charles Ewing, Henry Sherman, Mrs. 
Colgate Hoyt, Charles and Hoyt Sherman, 
Mrs. Wittig, May Randolph, and several army 
officers. 

The police arrangements were not of the best, 
and Chief of Police Harrigan had some difficulty 
in clearing the streets in the immediate vicinity of 
the train. This was finally- done, however, and 
then the committee of twenty-five appointed to 
receive those who had come to St. Louis on the sad 
mission, together with a delegation from Ransom 
Post, G. A. R., and prominent citizens of the city 
and State, headed by Gov. David R. Francis, 



176 LIIE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

marched up the platform and greeted first Sen- 
ator Sherman, of Ohio, who had got out to " rest 
himself," as he expressed it, and then Secretaries 
Noble and Rusk, Gen. Nelson A. Miles, and 
others, who had alighted from the train. Th& 
members of the family and the majority of those 
on the train did not, however, come out, and the 
committee, after extending greetings to those on 
the platform, entered the cars. Several ladies, 
friends of the Sherman family, were also at the 
station, and a number of them entered the private 
car to extend their sympathies to the bereaved. 
A few of the distinguished travelers left the car 
from time to time and stretched their legs on the 
platform, but there was nothing out of ordinary 
until the time for removing the body arrived. 

Meantime the various divisions of the great 
procession were forming on various , streets east 
of Twenty-fourth and north of the station. The 
crowd along Eleventh and Twelfth streets was 
very large, and in consequence of the doubt as to 
which street the procession would pass through, 
constant rushes occurred along Clark, Walnut 
and Market streets ; people moving from one 



THE FUNERAL, 111 

Street to another. The crowd grew every minute, 

On to the roofs of most of the buildings on 

Eleventh street people had climbed, and on the 

flat roofs there were crowds. The police upset 

the calculations of those who had made up their 

minds to view the procession from wagons by 

keeping the street clear, and It was only at the 

intersections that the wagon arrangements could 

be operated successfully. 

Owing to the extraordinarily good condition of 

the streets, those who kept on their feet had about 

the best of it. Thanks to copious rain, followed 

by the drying wind and sun, the granite was 

as clean as though it had been scrubbed. The 

telegraph poles were as crowded as it was 

possible to crowd them, and there was little 

chance to move on the sidewalk, so tightly was 

the mass of humanity wedged in. All around 

Grant's statue was a mass of people, and right 

on the north line of Pine street waeons were 

ranged side by side, the occupants having the 

advantage of watching the procession as it 

marched up from the south and wheeled to the 

west. Along Pine street the people were stand- 
12 



178 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

ing forty and fifty deep where the street Intersec- 
tions rendered this possible. 

Just before lo o'clock the caisson upon which 
the casket was to be borne to the cemetery ar- 
rived at the station, and immediately came the 
infantry of the regular army, led by General For- 
syth. The infantry were quickly drawn up in 
line on the north side of Poplar street, facing the 
station, and the carriages to convey the funeral 
party to the cemetery were promptly got into 
line. Then the caisson was backed up to the 
arched entrance to the station-grounds, just east 
of Eleventh street, and the riderless horse bear- 
ing the saddle, bridle, boots and riding equip- 
ments of General Sherman, pranced and tugged 
at the bridle-rein, held firmly by Sergeant Roth- 
geber, of the Seventh Cavalry, and seemed eager 
to be on the move. 

The local pall-bearers — Colonel George E. 
Leighton, Colonel Charles Parsons, Byron Sher- 
man, Daniel R. Garrison, Isaac Sturgeon, Thomas 
E. Tutt and R. P. Tanzy — alighted from a car- 
riage, and formed in two lines near the open door 
of the funeral car, the car having been backed 



THE FUNERAL. 179 

down to the eastern exit, and were soon joined 
by the honorary miHtary pall-bearers, Major- 
Generals Beckwith, Smith, Turner and Warner, 
Brigadier-General Barringer, and Commander 
Cotton of the Navy. In the rear of the pall- 
bearers were members of General Sherman's 
personal staff, and others who had been closely 
associated with him in life. 

Eight sturdy, broad-shouldered cavalrymen ad- 
vanced towards the funeral car, and at that mo- 
ment the band struck up a dirge. The guard of 
honor within the' car, surrounded by the members 
of Ransom Post, G. A. R., lifted the casket from the 
catafalque and placed it on the shoulders of the 
cavalrymen. Then the hoarse voice of General 
Forsyth rang out and hundreds of guns flashed 
in the sunlight as the infantry responded. Gen- 
eral Merritt rode up the line, orders were given 
to aides, and in less than a minute the infantry 
had formed by fours and was marching north on 
Eleventh street. Then came the caisson bearing 
the casket, followed by the riderless horse, bear- 
ing the dead General's saddle and trappings. 
Then came Ransom Post, G. A. R., and when 



180 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

that much of the cortege had passed out at Pop- 
lar street Into Eleventh street, the carriages drew 
up into line, and those who had accompanied 
the remains from New York were quickly trans- 
ferred from the train to the carriac^es in waitinof. 

The ladies of the family were all heavily veiled, 
and the Misses Sherman were clad in the deepest 
mourning. After they had been cared for, Secre- 
tary and Mrs. Noble and Secretary Rusk and 
others were escorted to their respective carriages, 
and that portion of the cortege moved out on 
Eleventh street. 

The new caisson on which the remains were 
conveyed to the grave was brought from Fort 
Riley. It was decorated by Captain Murray. The 
caisson was in charge of Sergeant John Cahoon, 
with thirteen of the original Wounded Knee 
troops, including Lieutenant E. T. Wilson, of the 
First Artillery. The first of the six bay horses 
was ridden by Bartholomew Meloy, the second by 
John Ryan, and the wheel-horse by John Kraus. 
The regular troops present were six companies 
from Fort Leavenworth, and two companies from 
Fort Supply, Indian Territory, with Colonel E. F. 



THE FUNERAL. 181 

Townsend in command. They were headed by 
the Twelfdi Infantry band. 

At 10.45 the trumpeters, blowing the "Gener- 
al's March," announced the arrival of the casket 
at the caisson. In a very few minutes the long 
line of regulars filed out of Poplar street upon 
Eleventh street. Ransom Post then marched up 
Poplar to the station entrance, where the caisson 
stood, three hundred and seventy-five men in all. 
On the extreme right of the infantry was Captain 
T. A. Lacy, Company A, thirty-eight men ; next 
came Captain S. M. McConihe, Company H, forty 
men ; Captain J. F. Stretch, Company B, forty- 
three men ; Captain H. G. Brown, Twelfth In- 
fantry, Company E, forty men ; Captain J. M. J. 
Sanno, Company H, Seventh Infantry, forty-eight 
men. The major portion of the Seventh Infantry 
were already formed at the extreme right of the 
line on Pine street, from Twelfth to Sixteenth 
street. 

It was 1 1. 01 when the caisson with the remains 
left the station on the line of march. Thomas 
Conley, the famous bugler of C Troop of the 
Seventh Reeiment. was at the corner of Twelfth 



182 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

and Pine streets to meet the first of the divided 
line, and formally blow the trumpet blast of 
'' Forward " to the great and solemn procession. 
The Twelfth United States Infantry band from 
Fort Leavenworth came up playing Chopin's 
Funeral March. -At 11.19 Conley blew his 
buo^le for the formal start for the last restlnof- 
place of the veteran warrior. It took until 11.24 
for word to be sent to the head of the line that all 
was in readiness in the rear, and at that time the 
procession moved, headed by the mounted 
platoons of police, who had hard work to clear 
the way, so densely packed by the thousands of 
eager but orderly people. 

Brevet Brig.-Gen. James W. Forsyth, Colonel 
of the Seventh Cavalry, commanding, with his 
staff and troops, covered a mile of space before 
the band ahead of the caisson and casket turned 
at Twelfth Into Pine street. West on Pine street 
to Grand avenue, a distance of twenty-four 
blocks, the procession moved, and then it 
went north on Grand avenue and northwest 
on Florissant avenue to Calvary Cemetery, 
through such crowds as have seldom witnessed 



THE FUNERAL. 183 

a pageant In St. Louis. The distance is about 
seven miles. 

The procession was divided into six grand 
divisions. The first division was headed by a 
platoon of mounted police ; next rode the bugle 
corps of the Seventh Cavalry. Immediately in 
their rear rode Gen. Wesley Merritt. He rode a 
fine bay horse, wore his fatigue uniform and 
forage cap, and a long military cloak. The hilt 
of his sword was bound with crape, and from his 
shoulder to his left side the sash of the Grand 
Marshal was studded with crape rosettes. Be- 
hind him rode his staff, composed of Col. William 
J. Volkmar, Col. C. Page, Col. C. W. Foster, 
Major J. A. Kress, Major P. D. Vroom, Major 
Wirt Davis, Major J. B. Babcock, Capt. W. C. 
Forbush, Capt. C. F. Powell, Capt. F. C. Gruzel, 
Capt. C. A. Whipple, Capt. A. Murray, Capt. C. 
B. Ewing, United States Army ; Capt. C. King, 
Lieut. J. N. Allison, Lieut. O. J. Brown, Lieut. P. 
W. West, Lieut. C. J. Bevlns, Gen. D. C. Cole- 
man, Col. M. L. B. Jenney, Col. S. V. Churchill, 
Major T. Pitzman, Major J. P. Dennis, P. A.; 
Surgeon C. T. Peckham, United States Hospital 



184 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

Marine Service, and A. E. Surgeon J. B. 
Young. 

At the head of the Seventh Cavalry rode its 
Colonel, J. W. Forsyth, accompanied by his 
Adjutant, Lieut. L. S. McCormack, and his regi- 
mental Quartermaster, Lieut. E. B. Fuller. Next 
came E Troop, under command of Capt. C. S. 
Ilsley, the ranking Captains all mounted on bay 
horses. K Troop followed, and its thinned ranks 
bore sad testimony to the desperate nature of the 
struggle at Wounded Knee. Its beloved com- 
mander, Wallace, was replaced by Capt. L. 
H. Hare. G Company, all of whose troopers 
were mounted on gray horses, and D Company, 
whose mounts were black, attracted especial 
attention. The yellow regimental standard was 
borne in the middle of the line. 

Six troops were in column — E under Capt. C. 
S. Ilsley and Lieuts. H. G. Sickel and S. Rice ; 
K, under Capt. L. H. Hare and Lieuts. S. J. D. 
Mann and H. G. Squires ; G, under Capt. W. S. 
Edgerly and Lieuts. A. P. Brown and J. F. Bell ; 
I, under Capt. H. J. Nowlan and Lieuts. W. J. 
Nicholson and J. C. Waterman ; B, under Capt. 



THE FUNERAL. 185 

C. A. Varnum and Lieuts, J. C. Gresham and E. 
C. Bullock, and D, under Capt. E. S. Godfrey 
and Lieuts. W. W. Robinson, Jr., and S. R. H. 
Tompkins. The First Battalion was commanded 
by Col. Forsyth and the Second by Major S. M. 
Whiteside. In the rear of the cavalry came the 
artillery, under command of Major E. B. Willis- 
ton. Light Battery F of the Second Artillery 
marched first, commanded by Capt. C. A. Wood- 
ruff and Lieuts. H. A. Reed, E. G. Dudley, and 
J. Conklin, Jr. It consisted of six twelve-pound 
rifles. The artillerymen were seated on the 
limbers and caissons, wearing army overcoats, the 
capes thrown back to show the red facings, and 
the horsemen were in their proper positions. 

Next came Light Battery F of the Fourth 
Artillery, under the command of Capt. G. B. 
Rodney and Lieuts. F. S. Strong, A. Cross 
White, and G. W. Gatchell. This battery was 
armed with improved breech-loading rifles. In 
the rear of the artillery was the ambulance and 
the men of the medical corps, under command of 
Dr. J. Van Hoff. In the rear of the artillery 
marched the infantry, Col. E. F. Townsend com- 



186 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

manding. Company A, Tenth Infantry, Capt. F. 
E. Lowry and Lleuts. I. W. Llttell and F. E. 
Lowry, Jr., commanding; Company H, Four- 
teenth Infantry, Capt. S. McConihe and Lleuts. 
J. F. Eastman and W. R. Gample commanding ; 
Company E, Twelfth Infantry, Capt. H. G. Brown 
and Lieuts. R. K. Evans and W. E. Ayers com- 
manding ; Company H, Seventh Infantry, Capt. 
J. N. J. Ganne and Lieuts. J. B. Jackson and A. 
J. Lasseigne commanding; Company E, Thir- 
teenth Infantry, Capt. J. S. Bishop and Lieuts. 
W. L. Buck and C. Koops commanding ; Com- 
pany H, Thirteenth Infantry, Capt. W. Auman 
and Lieuts. G. R. Weil and J. C. Fox command- 
ing; Company F, Thirteenth Infantry, Capt. J. 
Forwarde and Lieuts. M. F. James and J. S. 
Gresaid commanding, and Company F, Tenth In- 
fantry, Capt. J. F. Strech and Lieuts. C. J. S. 
Clark and R. L. Bulkard commanding. 

The oruard of honor consistin^r of Ransom Post 
and the survivors of the Thirteenth Regulars, 
came next, surrounding the caisson bearing the 
body. Commander H. L. Ripley led the advance 
guard, three sets of fours in rank. Next came the 



THE FUNERAL. 187 

caisson, drawn by four black horses, ridden by- 
two artillerymen in regular uniform. Close to 
the wheels walked the Sergeants who had accom- 
panied the remains from New York, and on each 
side of them marched comrades of Ransom Post. 
The rear was closed by the comrades of the post. 
The post flag was borne in advance. Behind Ran- 
som Post came the survivors of the old Thirteenth 
Infantry, commanded by Sergt. P. J. Carmody. 
All wore appropriate badges, and one of the men 
carried a beautiful floral tablet presented by the 
Thirteenth. The funeral cortege was closed by a 
long line of carriages containing the pall-bearers, 
the members of the family and members of the 
funeral party. 

The members of the family rode In the follow- 
ine order : First carrlaee, the Rev. Thomas Sher- 
man, Mrs. T. W. Fitch, P. T. Sherman, Miss L. 
Sherman ; second carriage, Senator Sherman, 
Mrs. M. W. Thackara, Col. Hoyt Sherman, 
Miss Rachel Sherman ; third carriage, Henry 
Sherman ; Frank Sherman, and Master Willie 
Fitch; fourth carriage, Judge P. B. Ewing, Mrs. 
P. B. Ewing, Mrs. M. E. Steele; fifth carriage, Gen. 



188 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN, 

Thomas Evving, Mrs. Margaret Reber, Gen. Nel- 
son A. Miles, and Mrs. Gen. Miles ; sixth car- 
riage, Mr. William McComb, Mrs. Henry Pro- 
basco, Hoyt Sherman, Jr. Miss Nellie Sherman ; 
seventh carriage, Mrs. Virginia Ewing, Sherman 
Granger, Mrs. Haldeman, Frank Weborg ; eighth 
carriage, Mr. Henry Probasco, Miss Maud Reber, 
Mr. Haldeman, Miss Mary Ewing ; ninth car- 
riage, Mr. George Ewing, Miss Mary Ewing, 
Thomas E. Steele, Mr. John Ewing ; tenth 
carriage, Mr. Reese Reber, Miss Mary Reber, 
Mr. Charles Ewing, Miss Elizabeth Price ; 
eleventh carriage, Henry Hitchcock, Col. 
J. M. Bacon, Col. L. M. Dayton; twelfth 
carriage, Mr. Asa Stoddard, Mr. Charles 
Reber, Mr. Lyton Reber, Miss Lizzie Emetie ; 
thirteenth carriage, Dr. Alexander, Gen. Fuller- 
ton, J. M. Barrett, secretary of Gen. Sherman. 
Captain Huggins;- fourteenth carriage, Mrs, 
Henry Turner's family ; fifteenth carriage, Mr. E, 
J. Ryan, Mrs. E. Ryan; sixteenth carriage, Lieut. 
Fitch and Lieut. Thackara. 

The funeral party was as follows : First car- 
riage. Secretary J. W. Noble, Mrs. Noble, Judge 



THE FUNERAL, 189 

Hough, and Major Randolph ; second carnage, 
Secretary Rusk, Assistant Secretary Grant, Carlos 
S. Greely, and Capt. Kingsbury; third carriage, 
Ex-President R. B. Hayes, Gen. Schofield, Gov. 
Stanard, and Lieut. Andrews ; fourth carriage, 
Gen. Howard, Gen. Slocum, James O. Broad- 
head, and Lieut. Howard ; fifth carriage. Gen. 
Alger and Col. William McCrary, of Gen. Sher-" 
man's old body guard. 

The second division consisted of the Loyal 
Legion and other army societies under command 
of Major H. L. Morrill, Commander of the Mis- 
souri Commandery of the Loyal Legion, and a 
number of the societies of the Army of the Ten- 
nessee. The Illinois contingent, loo strong, came 
first, and was followed by members of the society 
from Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and 
Colorado. Nearly all who wore the badge of the 
Army of the Tennessee were also decorated with 
the Loyal Legion button, as the constitution of 
the two societies is similar, none but commissioned 
officers being eligible. 

The third division consisted of Grand Army 
posts. Sons of Veterans and allied organizations. 



190 LIFE OF GENERAL IVM. T. SHERMAN. 

First came Grand Marshal Rassleur, with the 
following staff: Louis Koop, John C. Bensleck, 
Anton Demuth, Val Barth, John P. Kivits, E. W. 
Duncan, Daniel Glock, F. G. Uthoff, Charles 
Moller, H. R. Taylor, Madison Miller, C. V. BIsser, 
Anthony D. Englemann, Arnold Beck, E. L. 
Gottschalk, W. H. Uthoff, W. H. Buder, P. F. 
Bobe, J. N. Hutchinson, Max Langan, and O. C. 
Eadmann. There were about 1,200 men In all, 
representing all the Grand Army posts In the 
city and many from other cities. The depart- 
ment commanders and their staffs followed In 
behind Commander-in-Chief Veazey as follows : 
Department Commander W. L. Diston, of Illinois, 
Grand Army of the Republic, and his staff; De- 
partment Commander Clarkson, of Nebraska, and 
his staff; Department Commander Henry M. 
Duffield, of Michigan, and his staff; Department 
Commander Collins, of Kansas, and his staff. 

The fourth division was headed by Gov. D. 
R. Francis and staff. The Missouri militia fol- 
lowed. This portion of the division Included 
about 1,200 men. Following the Missouri militia 
came the militia from Ohio, under the command 



THE FUNERAL. 191 

of Gen. Hawkins. This detachment consisted of 
three regiments — the First, Fourteenth and Sev- 
enteenth Ohio — in all about 1,400 men. Next 
came the Missouri judiciary, in carriages, followed 
by the Missouri Legislature delegation, the Illi- 
nois Legislature, and members of the Ohio Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

The fifth division included the ex-Confederate 
Historical Society, under command of Major C. 
C. Rainwater, and several civil societies. The 
sixth division' was made up of miscellaneous civil, 
mercantile, industrial, and other organizations. 

At the corner of Easton and Grand Avenues 
about one-fourth of the procession, including 
most of the Grand Army veterans, dropped out 
of line. Some of them, however, took carriages 
and continued the journey to the cemetery. 
Ransom Post arranged its guard of honor in re- 
lays. , One delegation marched as far as Easton 
and Grand Avenues, where a relay was in wait- 
ing. These took their places beside the coffin 
and marched half the remaining distance to the 
cemetery, where they were relieved by a third 
delegation, which served the rest of the distance. 



192 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

The long march to the cemetery was tiresome 
In the extreme for those who had to make the 
journey on foot, as thousands did. 

By 8 o'clock In the morning the people began 
gathering about the entrances to the cemetery, 
but they found there a detail of United States 
regulars to keep them out, and only a few fav- 
ored ones gained admission. At lo o'clock Un- 
dertaker Thomas Lynch and his corps of assist- 
ants arrived at the grave in the Sherman lot and 
began to arrange the preliminaries. The grave 
had been dug the night before and the earth 
taken therefrom cleaned up and confined In a 
framework. The ground in the Immediate vicin- 
ity of the grave had been covered for a radius of 
probably lOO feet with canvas. By ii o'clock 
the carriages began to arrive, loaded with floral 
tributes. 

It was just 1.55 o'clock when the head of the 
funeral procession reached the Florissant Avenue 
entrance to the cemetery. Already the avenue 
for nearly a mile was bordered on both sides 
with people, and the great sea of human beings 
was surging and beating against the gates and 



THE FUNERAL. 193 

walls of the cemetery. The crowd were driven 
back and an effort was made to hold them until 
the funeral party could get through the gates. 
This was in a degree successful. The roadway 
and entrances were kept clear, but hundreds 
climbed over the high stone walls, and there was 
a wild rush for advantageous positions near the 
grave. The rushers were, however, disappointed, 
for careful preparations had been made to keep 
ample space clear for the ceremonies. 

The carriages containing the mourners drove 
up close to the spot selected for the General's 
last resting-place, and the members of the family 
were soon in position at the head of the open 
grave. The caisson containing the coffin stopped 
some distance away. The casket was borne to 
the grave attended by the honorary pall-bearers. 
Then the Rev. Father Sherman, son of the dead 
General, book in hand, advanced to the grave. 
All this was done expeditiously, and, in fact, oc- 
cupied very little more time than is required to 
tell of it. As the casket was lowered into the 
grave Father Sherman began the Roman Catholic 

burial service, which he conducted without assist- 
13 



194 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

ance, although there were two other priests in the 
party. The grave was then filled, and as the men 
with shovels were shaping the mound the family 
moved away to their carriages. 

The firing party, a battalion of regular in- 
fantry, took position In the roadway, probably 
thirty feet northeast of the grave, and at the word 
of command discharged three volleys. The 
smoke from their rifles was still thick when the 
artillery, a hundred yards away, thundered forth 
three volleys, and the last rites were complete. 
Then began a stampede for home. The regular 
troops were taken direct from the cemetery to 
Jefferson Barracks by railroad. Those who went 
in carriages had a pleasant drive returning, but 
the great throng who went on foot or depended 
on street-car service had a hard time to get 
back to the city. The outgoing trains In all direc- 
tions were crowded this evening with departing 
people. 

The New York Times describes the funeral in 
its editorial columns as follows: "Once before New 
York has seen a military pageant, arranged upon 
a like occasion, that was even more deeply im- 



THE FUNERAL. 195 

pressive than the funeral procession of Gen. 
Sherman, which yesterday passed slowly through 
streets packed on either side with people. 
Another pageant of the same kind equal to it the 
present generation of New-Yorkers are not 
likely to see. It is not even to be desired that 
they should see it. For the funeral honors paid 
to Gen. Grant five years ago last August and 
those paid yesterday to Gen. Sherman were hon- 
ors such as could be paid only to men who had 
delivered their country from mortal peril, such as 
It Is to be hoped the Nation may not again en- 
counter in our time. Hundreds of thousands of 
men did for the Union what they could, but by fate 
and chance and desert, combined in proportions 
that no man Is wise enouorh to assio^n with exact- 

o o 

ness, these two men became the heroes of the 
war, and when it was over it was by common con- 
sent that it was decreed that Its first honors should 
fall to them. Such services as It Is now, and as It 
Is henceforth likely to be In the power of Ameri- 
cans to render their country, are not the services 
that strike the popular Imagination like the deeds 
of a great soldier. They are the services of 



196 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

patient and careful statesmanship. These are only 
comparable in public esteem to military services 
when they are accompanied by that gift of elo- 
quent speech that seems either to be less com- 
mon than it was in the earlier days of the Repub- 
lic, or to have lost its national influence as the 
national interests have increased. Assuredly 
there is no one left to die and be burled the story 
of whose achievements is at once so familiar and 
so stirring to his countrymen as that of Gen. 
Sherman's. 

"Any comparison between the honors paid to 
Gen. Grant and those paid to Gen. Sherman is 
really a comparison between the emotions with 
which the two funerals were regarded by those 
who witnessed them and by those who read .of 
them, and any such comparison is fallacious, if not 
impossible. Gen. Grant's funeral was the occa- 
sion of a great reconciliation in a sense in which 
the funeral of no other man could be. *The en- 
emies he had made were not alone those whom 
he had fought in war. He had permitted himself 
to be drawn into civil strife. He had twice been 
chosen to the Presidency, after heated contests, in 



THE FUNERAL. 197 

which a very great number of his countrymen had 
come sincerely to regard him as a public enemy, 
and he had held office at a time when sectional 
bitterness had by no means died away, and when 
no man could have been President without array- 
ing against himself either the majority at the 
North or the majority at the South. But little 
more than eight years separated his retirement 
from the Presidency from his death, and eight 
years would not have been long enough for the 
passions his political career had excited to subside 
but for the events of these intervening years. To 
him they had been years of darkness and sorrow, 
and his life was ended by a torturing and linger- 
ing malady at an age when, according to the com- 
mon computation, he had still some years of 
activity and usefulness before him. The heroic 
patience with which he continued during his last 
days the work by which he hoped to leave his fam- 
ily above want constituted the strongest claim 
upon human sympathy, and the earnest appeals 
that he put forth from his sick-room, and almost 
from his death-bed, for a closer reunion of the 
States touched all American hearts. The 



198 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

Southerners who assembled at his funeral came 
to show that they forgave him freely, but they felt 
that they had something to forgive. 

" In the last days of General Sherman there 
was no such gloomy tragedy as this, a tragedy of 
which the nobility could not dispel the gloom, and 
which made the funeral of General Grant an 
event unique in our history and In all history. 
It was a quarter of a century since General 
Sherman had finished his work, and when the war 
was over he left all its bitterness behind him. In 
the long interval he had led a happy life, but for 
his share of the sorrows that are common to all 
mankind, an honored life, and a life that was at 
once peaceful and active. He died full of years 
and of honors, without surviving his Interest in 
life or his faculties of enjoyment. To those who 
honor and who mourn him it seems that there is 
here no tragedy beyond the universal tragedy of 
mortality, and that an enviable life has been 
crowned by an enviable death." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

HIS CHARACTER. 

/^ENERAL SHERMAN was a man who 
possessed great simplicity of character, and 
was noted for his love of truth and honesty. He 
would never for an instant condescend to receive 
praise that did not justly belong to him. He 
gave a signal illustration of this splendid trait in 
his character after the successful investment of 
Vicksburg. The conception of that campaign 
was attributed to him. At the first opportunity 
he related to a number of prominent men visiting 
the army at the time an incident that showed 
Grant to be entitled to all the honor and that, in 
fact, the movement was made against the advice 
of all the other commanders, including himself, 
McPherson, Logan and Wilson. They believed 
that to move the army below Vicksburg was to 
separate It from the North and all its supplies ; 
to hazard everything, for If defeat followed it was 

199 



200 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

certain to be disastrous. Sherman told that even 
after the orders to march had been issued he 
rode to Grant's headquarters and proposed his 
own plan, which was that Vicksburg should be 
attacked from the north, selecting some high 
ground on the Mississippi as a base of opera- 
tions. " That," replied Grant, " would require me 
to go back to Memphis." " Exactly," answered 
Sherman. Grant did not think the country was 
in any mood for retrograde movements at the 
time and adhered to his purpose. Sherman rode 
back to his quarters discouraged and put his plan 
of campaign in writing. He suggested that all 
the corps commanders should be called into 
council and the subject discussed. Col. Rawlins 
handed the paper to Grant without a word. He 
read it in silence and made no comment. " But," 
says Badeau, " the orders were not revoked, the 
council of war was not called and the existence of 
the letter was never mentioned between. the two 
commanders or disclosed by Grant. It was Sher- 
man himself who told the story. He was just 
and generous even at the expense of hurting his 
own reputation." 



HIS CHARACTER. 201 

The following anecdote illustrates the simple 
taste of General Sherman : 

About two years ago, General Sherman asked 
ex-Gov. Cornell, then Chairman of the Grant 
Memorial Committee, what were the prospects of 
the memorial. " It will be built, General," an- 
swered Cornell. " It will be a splendid mausole- 
um, and a place shall be reserved for you in it 
beside Grant." "No, no!" responded Sherman, 
very decidedly. ** No mausoleum for me. I 
want no such thing. When I die give me a grave 
and a $75 tombstone — that's all." 

ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER. 

No better estimate of his character can be 
formed than by giving editorials from some of 
the leading papers : 

" The heroic but unequal struggle of General 
Sherman with the final conqueror of all men 
ended yesterday. The brave soldier who had 
faced Death without fear on a hu*ndred battle- 
fields, and who resisted the final attack with 
characteristic grim determination, succumbed at 
last. 



202 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

" Gen. Sherman was the last of the great lead- 
ers of the war of the rebellion. In some respects 
he was the most popular soldier of his day. In 
every fibre of his character he was an American. 
His genius was of that quick and ready kind 
that characterizes his countrymen, and his simplicity 
and straight-forwardness appealed strongly to the 
democratic mind and heart. 

" In the early days of the war tie was thought 
by slower and more conservative men to be 
erratic. His brilliancy dazzled them. They could 
not grasp his large conceptions. His plans and 
his talk were far above the heads of the plodders. 
He saw the vastness of the undertaking, the im- 
mensity of the task with which he and his fellow- 
soldiers were charged. Men shook their heads 
when he proclaimed his opinions, but when he 
faced Joe Johnston he played the game of grand 
strategy with the skill and coolness of the scien- 
tific soldier that he was. 

" In peace he was a simple, undemonstrative, pat- 
riotic citizen. He wore his military honors modestly. 
He never reached after the civic crown. He was 
one of the most charming and interesting men of 



HIS CHARACTER. 203 

his time. He never shrank from expressing his 
opinion, and if he seemed to seek controversy It 
was to vindicate the truth. 

" His death removes a familiar and much- 
loved figure. His memory will linger as long as 
military genius, rugged honesty and high patriot- 
ism hold their place in the world." — New York 
World. 

" No figure in late years had become more famil- 
iar in New York than that of General Sherman. 
The simplicity, candor, and childlikeness of his 
nature, his manly cordiality of manner, his ready 
sympathy and lively humor, and the great career 
of heroic achievement which lay behind all, made 
him a most interesting and memorable personality. 
His name is indissolubly associated with that of 
General Grant in the history of the civil war, and 
there is no more romantic and inspiring story in 
our national annals than that of the march to the 
sea. 

" The General was always welcome, not only be- 
cause of his great renown and his illustrious ser- 
vices, but because of his personal charm. The 
papers have been full of conversations which re- 



204 LIFE OP GENERAL JVM. T. SHERMAN. 

call his happy speeches, the constant flow of 
delightful anecdote, the pleasant dalliance of a 
great nature In repose. Edward Everett, in his 
oration at the unveiling of the statue of Daniel 
Webster in Boston, describes the Defender of the 
Constitution on the evening before the delivery of 
his most famous speech, the reply to Hayne, and 
on the next day at- its delivery in the Senate. In 
the evening, says Everett, but in his most 
elaborate and consummately effective manner, 
he was like one of the boats he loved rocking and 
swinging on the gentle lap of the waves upon the 
shore. But the next day he was * a mighty ad- 
miral ' in action on mid-ocean, with all his broad- 
sides thundering, his canvas strained, and his flags 
and pennants streaming. 

"Sherman, In his later day, as we have known 
him In New York, was the boat easily swinging 
on the tide, the lightnings of battle sheathed, and 
the frowning tier on tier of guns Invisible. It is 
perhaps not too much to say that the feeling with 
which in every company he was greeted was akin 
to love. It is good to think of him so, good that 
the last thought of a man whose name Is honored 



HIS CHARACTER. 205 

and cherished by millions should be as kindly and 
gentle as it is admiring and grateful. So he 
would have had it, and would have asked no 
sweeter rosemary for remembrance." — Harper s 
Weekly. 

The New York Herald has this to say: 

'' Sad tidings these, that General William 
Tecumseh Sherman has for the first time been 
forced to surrender. 

'' His strategy has heretofore been that of at- 
tack, but on this occasion the first blow was de- 
livered by the enemy. He resisted with such 
vigor as old age provides, made a brave fight 
against the odds of Death, yielded to the only 
foe of mortality who never lost a battle, and now 
* sleeps in fame.' 

" But death has bestowed upon him a double im- 
mortality. He will live forever in the 'mansions 
not made with hands ' and live forever in the 
hearts of a grateful people. His name is written 
on this lower firmament together with those of 
Grant and Sheridan, his comrades on the field — 
in ' tracings of eternal light,' and his place in the 
Hereafter is assured by the fact that the jewel, 



206 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

honor, which he has worn on his breast for the space 
of two generations has never lost its lustre. 

*^ Sherman's rank in the long list of historic 
soldiers may be safely left to the future. For the 
present, discussion must give way to eulogy. We 
lift no curious eyes to discover the height of his 
greatness, have no desire to compare him with 
any but himself, and are satisfied with the 
tender memories which cluster about the house of 
mourning. He will be numbered with the nation's 
most illustrious dead, to be honored as a leader 
of our hosts on the perilous field, a defender of 
the people's cause, a valiant contributor to that 
great victory which made republics stronger and 
thrones weaker. For the present, therefore, we 
leave the task of criticism to the indifferent or 
the stranger, and speak only in the whisper of 
sorrow and condolence. 

** Sherman was in many respects a unique 
character. He was a man of simple manners, a 
product of our peculiar institutions, as pure- 
minded and honest as Corlolanus. He was 
blunt, brusque and wore his heart upon his 
sleeve. Had there been no war he might have 



HIS CHARACTER. 207 

found no opportunity — would have kept the even 
tenor of his way along the ordinary level, as a 
merchant or the president of a military academy. 
But when the nation trembled for Its fate he 
gravitated to leadership with the Irrepressible Im- 
pulse of commanding ability. His sword was 
forged In fire and tempered with blood. He rose 
from lieutenant to General by. hard service In 
front of the enemy. Without ambition except 
to save the country, always master of the position 
to which he was assigned, he disdained to ask 
preferment and waited for preferment to seek for 
him. We have had many brave soldiers, but few 
of whom it may be said, as we are proud to say 
of Sherman, ' There are no tricks In plain and 
simple faith.' 

" He was pre-eminently a fighter, the man for 
the time. In his judgment war Is always war, 
and should be conducted without 'dangerous 
lenity.' With every fibre he believed in the 
righteousness of our cause, and when the first 
rumbllnors of secession were heard in the 

o 

Louisiana sky, he wrote to Governor Moore : 
* On no earthly account will I do any act or think 



208 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

any thought hostile to the old government of the 
United States.' 

" When in the field, therefore, he smote with all 
the might of arm and conscience, dreamed of 
nothing except to rout the enemy at any cost and 
If possible to exterminate him. Tp his soldiers 
he said : — 'Put your shields before your hearts 
and fight with hearts more proof than shields.' 
He never followed, was always at the front, a 
hard rider, a hard fighter, not reckless, but bold. 
His army loved him as his army loved Napoleon, 
but the Corslcan looked with ' soaring insolence ' 
upon a throne as his reward, while Sherman re- 
fused everything which politics would have gladly 
offered, saying with Marcius : — ' I cannot make my 
heart consent to take a bribe to pay my sword.' 

" With Sherman we lose the last of that historic 
group in which he stood by the side of Lincoln^ 
Grant and Sheridan. If it be true that the dead 
may by some subtle metempsychosis become the 
inspiration of the living, the memory of these four 
will keep the fires of patriotism alive and help our 
children's children to make the future of the Re- 
public as glorious as Its past." 



HIS CHARACTER. 209 

The New York Times\v^^ the following: ^'Upon 
the side of the Union, the last ' hero of the civil 
war' is gone. There are hundreds of men left 
who have done * gallant and meritorious service,' 
not merely in the ranks, but in command of reg- 
iments and brigades and divisions and army 
corps. There are a few who have led armies and 
held independent commands. But of the con- 
spicuous commanders whose names were known 
a quarter of a century ago to all their country- 
men , and whose faces were familiar to hundreds 
of thousands of soldiers^ General Sherman was 
the last. By common consent, ratified by the 
acts of Congress, three men were recognized at 
the close of the war as pre-eminent in the service 
they had rendered in making the war for the 
Union successful — Grant and Sherman and Sheri- 
dan — and these three men succeeded each other 
after the war was over in the command of the 
Army of the United States. Of these three men 
General Sherman was the oldest man and the 
latest survivor. Those who witnessed the funeral 
of Grant will never forget that among the most 

touching and impressive incidents of the long 
14 



210 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

procession was the appearance In one carnage of 
an elderly man brilliant with the uniform and in- 
signia of the rank of General, and of another 
still older in civilian's dress. The soldier in uni- 
form was General Sherman ; the soldier who no 
longer had the right to wear a uniform was Gen- 
eral Johnston, who, thirteen years older than his 
companion of that day, and his antagonist on 
many well-fought fields, still lives to enjoy the 
affectionate veneration of the people whom he led 
and the respect of the people against whom he 
fought. But with the death of General Sherman 
the last of the towering figures of the war disap- 
pears for the people of the Northern States. It 
is a reminder which must Impress the dullest mind 
that the civil war Is of another age than ours. 

" Of the three heroes of the war whom we have 
named. General Sherman was by far the most 
picturesque and interesting figure. In the 
minds of most of his countrymen he was almost 
more identified with the history of the war than 
Grant himself, because he was identified with 
nothing else. His public career began in 1861 
and ended in 1865 with the surrender of Johnston. 



HIS CHARACTER. 211 

On the other hand, he was not, Hke General Sher- 
idan, a soldier only, but a very active-minded man, 
whose curiosity and sympathy expanded in all di- 
rections and toward all interests. Nothing hu- 
man was foreign to him, and his habit of speaking 
his mind upon all subjects without weighing his 
words and without the least regard to conse- 
quences endeared him the more to his country- 
men by affording them the continual spectacle of 
a great man who was also intensely human. At 
the beginning of the war he incurred for a time 
the reputation of insanity for a prediction con- 
cerning the extent and duration of the struggle 
which, as the event proved, showed the soundness 
and shrewdness of his mind. By nature he was 
not especially amenable to discipline. If his im- 
mediate superior. General Grant, had not enter- 
tained a sincere admiration for the man whom he 
unaffectedly regarded as his intellectual superior, 
though his military subordinate, it is likely that 
the relations of the two Generals would have 
been so strained as to interfere with the success 
of their joint operations. Happily this did not 
occur, but General Sherman had no hesitation 



212 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

about embroiling himself with his ultimate super- 
ior, the Secretary of War, and he relieved his 
mind by describing Mr. Stanton as a ' clerk ' 
and cutting him dead when they met upon the re- 
viewing stand at the close of the war. For a 
man of this impulsive, not to say explosive, na- 
ture it was especially fortunate that he did not 
permit himself to be beguiled by civic ambitions 
after his soldierly work was done. General 
Grant often lamented that he had not remained 
at the head of the army instead of becoming em- 
broiled in the thankless struggles of politics, 
where political opposition impaired the universal 
eood-will that would otherwise have been his. In 
nothing was the good sense that lay at the base of 
General Sherman's character, in spite of his 
superficial eccentricities, more clearly shown than 
in his scornful scouting of all proposals from po- 
litical parties, and in his repeated declaration that 
he would not accept the Presidency of the 
United States if it were offered to him without a 
struggle. Even in such a contingency he would 
have consulted his own happiness if he had re- 
mained in a private station, where he could speak 



HIS CHARACTER. 213 

his mind freely without committing anybody but 
himself, and where he could live his own life with- 
out molestation. After his retirement from the 
army and since he took up his residence in New 
York, General Sherman has been a very familiar 
figure. He went everywhere, he spoke often in 
public, and, as he said nothing that was not worth 
listening to, people heard him gladly. The peace- 
ful activity of his last years, after the stormy 
scenes of his prime, made his a happy and 
enviable old acre. There has seldom been a 
happier conjunction of temperament and fate. 
Now that he has gone he has taken with him 
not merely the honor and gratitude of his coun- 
trymen for great and patriotic deeds, but a 
widespread affection and regret for the departure 
of a brave, shrewd, kindly and transparently 
honest man." 

The Philadelphia Ledger says : " Nearly twenty- 
six years after the close of the War of Secession 
death has removed the last of that renowned 
group of soldiers — Meade, Grant, Sheridan and 
Sherman — whose magnificent soldiership was so 
conspicuously displayed during the war by which 



214 LIFE OF GENERAL JVM. T. SHERMAN. 

the Integrity of the Union was assured, rebellion 
crushed and slavery abolished. 

**We have mentioned the names of these illus- 
trious soldiers in the order of their death ; the 
order of their greatness their countrymen long 
ago determined. General Meade followed only 
after Grant, and parallel with him was Sherman, 
not only in the brilliancy of tactical skill, but in 
the effective results of execution. Sherman's ed- 
ucation was unusually liberal and comprehensive 
before the war began. He was graduated from 
the West Point Military Academy with distinct- 
ion ; he served in the army with credit and use- 
fulness, as Second and as First Lieutenant and as 
Captain. Subsequently resigning his commission, 
he became a banker and a lawyer, and still later 
on a Railroad President and the Superintendent 
of the Louisiana State Military Institute — which 
latter position he resigned when Louisiana se- 
ceded from the Union, In a letter that was in the 
highest degree creditable to his honor and patri- 
otism. He was nearly forty-one years old when 
the civil war began, and was then In the fullest 
vigor of physical and mental health. His fine 



HIS CHARACTER. 215 

intelligence, his diverse education, his varied asso- 
ciations and intercourse with men of distinction 
in different walks in life, had peculiarly fitted him 
for the great work to which his country called him 
at the beginning of the war. 

" Like Grant, Meade and Sheridan, General 
Sherman had not only military genius ; he had 
the highest qualities of a citizen of the great Re- 
public. He entered the service of his country as 
one who was as willing, if need be, to die for as to 
fight for it. He gave it no half-hearted, halting 
service, and the mighty energy he so continuously 
displayed on the march and in the assault was as 
much the Inspiration of his loyal heart as of his 
alert mind and vigorous body. 

" The story of his achievements Is one of the 
most glorious and precious records of his country, 
and most conspicuous In it Is that chapter of It 
known to his countrymen, to the admirers of mili- 
tary genius of all countries — the march through 
Georgia from the Mountains to the Sea. It was 
the grandeur of this great movement, the 
grandeur of Its courage and its results, which will 
render It forever remarkable. No soldier of ancient 



216 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

or modern history more completely burned his 
bridges behind him than did Sherman when he 
marched out of Atlanta at the head of that great 
Union host, the objective point of which was the 
Atlantic ocean, the purpose of which was to cut 
through the Confederacy in its most vital part, 
and to bring its chief support, the army of Lee, 
between two fires, that of Grant and Meade and 
of Sherman. As it was planned, it was executed 
— without a single failure at any point. All that 
was anticipated from it was realized, and the doom 
of the Confederacy was sealed that day when 
Sherman, turning his back upon the mountains, 
set out in his march to the sea. 

" It is impossible to form any just estimate of 
the value of services such as this illustrious 
soldier rendered his country in its time of great- 
est need. He was one of those who stood as an 
impregnable fortress against the destroying plans 
of its enemies. He offered to the Cause of Union 
and Freedom all that man has to offer — intellect, 
streneth, and even that for which all things else 
will be freely sacrificed, life. General Sherman's 
was the genius of both planning and doing. He 



HIS CHARACTER. 217 

thought and he wrought with magnificent 
courage and effective skill for his country, and his 
efforts were crowned with success. In the sud- 
den making of splendid names his name became 
one which inspired armies with confidence and 
assured the soldierly endeavor which achieved tri- 
umphs. Such men are so truly great that their 
countrymen can only reverently salute them and 
resolve to keep their deeds in grateful remem- 
brance as they pass from the world which was bet- 
ter for their living in it. 

*'A patriotic American, a wise, brave, skillful 
soldier, a sincere, earnest, friendly man. General 
Sherman died honored and beloved by number- 
less personal friends and by millions of his coun- 
trym.en. In a sense broader than that of a mili- 
tary genius, ^General Sherman was a great man. 
He showed in his war correspondence that he had 
the learninor of the scholar and the wisdom of the 

o 

statesman — just as in his famous and admirable 
book containing the Memoirs of his Life he proved 
that he had rare gifts as an autobiographical 
author. Such men do not die ; they pass on from 
among their surviving old comrades of camp and 



218 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

field to more life, to a fuller, completer one ; to 
the reward of men entirely good and great." 

FOREIGN OFFICERS BUI.OGIZK GENERAIv SHERMAN. 

General Lord Wdlseley, in an interview to-day, 
said of General Sherman: "All military men of 
every country join the people of the United States 
in their reofret at General Sherman's death, for 
the loss is not confined to America, but is shared 
by all military people." When asked what he 
thought of General Sherman as a military com- 
mander, Lord Wolseley replied that it was a diffi- 
cult matter for an outsider to make comparisons, 
but, speaking purely from a military point of view, 
he undoubtedly would place Sherman at the head 
of all Northern commanders. As a strategist, 
Sherman showed great power, and ii» this he ex- 
celled all others, while in achievements for which 
he was most famous, notably his march to the sea, 
he displayed the dash, combined with strategical 
skill, that at once proved his great power. In an- 
swer to a question Lord Wolseley said that he, in 
common with other European commanders, ranked 
Lee as first of the commanders on either side. 



HIS CHARACTER. 219 

Major-General Philip Smith, C.B., command- 
ing the Home District, whose opinion may be said 
to represent the entire brigade of Guards, says 
he thinks General Sherman was the finest all- 
round soldier of the American Civil War. 

Colonel Hugh McCalmont, C.B., who has seen 
service in India, and is at present commanding the 
Fourth Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, Dublin, said, 
with great feeling, that, in his judgment. Grant 
would not have been able to break down the 
heroic opposition of Lee if it had not been for 
the genius of Sherman, whose march was the 
grandest thing of its kind in history. 

Sir Edward Hamley, K.C.B., is regarded as 
one of the first of living English strategists, his 
book on "The Operations of War" having been 
translated into almost all languages. He said : 
" General Sherman was a great tactician. I have 
already expressed in writing my opinion that his 
march through Georgia was deliberately planned, 
and for boldness of conception and marvelous 
organization it has scarcely a parallel in the history 
of war." 

Many other distinguished British officers and 



220 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

ex-officers spoke In highest terms of the military 
genius of General Sherman. 

General Vernols, ex-MInister of War, when 
asked about General Sherman's position as a 
commander, said: "Before I could express an 
opinion which would even do justice to Sherman, 
I should wish a closer study of the rich material 
in his military career. His march to the sea was 
the work of a great soldier." 

General Taysen, who Is Chief of the Historical 
Department of Germany's General Staff, said: 
"Sherman was certainly one of the greatest Gen- 
erals In the American war. He was remarkable 
for his clear Insight, his sharp strategical Ideas, 
and, above all, for the wonderful activity with 
which he carried out his Ideas. His celebrated 
flank march to the sea astonished the world. I 
especially value In Sherman his gqfilus of carry- 
ing out with strict strategical art simple Ideas with 
most simple means." 

General Von Estoroff, chief of the official 
paper of the Prussian Ministry of War, said: 
"Sherman is regarded In the military circles of 
Germany as one of the most distinguished Gen- 






HIS CHARACTER. 221 

erals of modern times, not only in designing, but 
in carrying out most daring schemes." 

" Gradually all the leading historic personages 
on both sides of our great civil war are disap- 
pearing from the ranks of the living. On the 
Confederate side Generals Johnston, Longstreet, 
Early, Gordon and Beauregard are the last of the 
great commanders. On the Union side General 
Sherman enjoyed the same distinction. His 
death, following so closely upon that of Admiral 
Porter, of the navy, will serve to recall vividly the 
stirring events in which they both figured in 
defence of the Union cause. The republic will 
at the same time honor them as * heroes of the 
civil war,' and as citizens of the highest distinc- 
tion, entitled to grateful memory. The bitter- 
nesses of the late struggle have been replaced at 
length by a restored Union, where the dominant 
sentiment or aspiration is heartily for peace and 
progress under liberal government. General 
Sherman spent the later years of his life in peace- 
ful activity amidst the surroundings of civil life, 
which he adorned by the graces of mind and con- 
versation. He took a lively interest in all that 



222 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

was going on In the world, and made the wisest 
use, perhaps, of the time left to him after retire- 
ment In making himself and others happy. He 
would not sacrifice the peace and contentment of 
these surroundings for the presidency, or to listen 
to the tempting offers of politicians who sought to 
allure him into the whirlpool of politics. He was 
a man of pronounced convictions and straight- 
forward speech. He preferred to remain in 
private life, where, as has been said of him, * he could 
speak his mind freely when there was occasion to 
do so without committing any one but himself.' " 
— Baltimore Sun. 

"When all Is said that can be said, the fact looms 
up that this man was one of the greatest soldiers 
of the age. Perhaps he was so essentially a 
soldier that we run the risk of misjudging him. 
He knew and cared nothing about politics and 
diplomacy. His way of settling a difficulty was 
to cut the Gordian knot with his sword. He was 
a hard fighter, and never grew sentimental in the 
presence of bloodshed and death. But when the 
business of war was over — when he had accom- 
plished his mission — he showed a softer side, and 



HIS CHARACTER. 223 

men and women, even among his former foes, 
found him a very lovable man." — Atlanta, Ga,, 
Constitution. 

A GREAT SOLDIER S CAREER. 

Rumble and grumble, ye drums. 

Shrill be your throat, O pipes ! 
With blood-red flag, in your mourning band. 

Serpent of harlequin stripes ! 

But — stars in the banner's blue ! 

Smile, for the war chief true 
Up from the myriad hearts of the land. 

Comes — to your haven comes. 

Guns that sullenly boom 

Mourn for the master's hand 
Dreadful, uplifting the baton of war 

While your hurricane shook the land! 

Marching, marching, battle and raid. 

Gay and garrulous, unafraid, 
Sherman drove with his brilliant star 

A dragon of eld to its doom. 

Pass, O shade without stain ! 

Sunsets that grimly smile 
Shall paint how your signal flags deploy 

Battalions, mile on mile — 

Horseman and footman, rank on rank. 

Sweeping against the foeman's flank, 
Howhng full of the strange mad joy 

Of slaughter and fear to be slain ! 



224 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

Orators, thunder and rave ! 

Chant ye his dirge, O bards , 
Ho, cunning sculptors, his charger design. 

Grave ye his profile on sards ! 

But to picture the hero's brain 

Shall ye ever thereto attain ? 
Can ye utter the soul of the long blue line 

And the tongue-tied love of the slave ? 

Rumble and grumble, ye drums, 
Strain in your throat, O pipes ! 
Last of the warriors of oak that were hew 
Into strength by failure and stripes ! 
Last, not least, of the heroes old, 
Smoke-begrimed, fervid, crafty, bold — 

Sheridan, Grant, your comrade boon 
Comes — to your haven comes ! 

— Charles De Kay. 
In New York Times. 



General Sherman's faith or belief in religious 
matters has been very widely discussed, and we 
o^ive in full an article from the North America7z 
Review on Hon. James G. Blaine: 

" As time passes and . the period rapidly 
approaches when in the course of nature my 
tongue must be silent, and the pen drop from my 
fingers, it seems but right that I should record 



HIS CHARACTER. 225 

some of the thousand and one reminiscences of a 
somewhat eventful career which may concern 
others, and may in the future be conducive to the 
good of my fellow-mortals. 

"In June, 1840, 1 graduated at the U. S. Military 
Academy at West Point, and in common with my 
classmates was granted a three months* furlough 
to repair to my home to prepare for active service 
with my regiment in Florida. My home was 
then in the family of the Hon. Thomas Ewing, at 
Lancaster, Ohio. This family was large, occupy- 
ing one of the best mansions of that ancient 
village, and among the family were two boys, 
' cousins,' of about eleven years of age, as bright 
and handsome as ever were two thoroughbred 
colts in a blue-grass pasture of Kentucky. 

" Being myself a full-fledged graduate of the 
National Military Academy, and a commissioned 
officer in the Third U. S. Artillery with a salary 
of §65 a month, all in gold, I could hardly stoop to 
notice these lads, but was informed that they were 
attending the select school of Mr. Lyons, an 
English gentleman, a classical scholar, uncle to 
the Lord Lyons who long represented Great 
15 



226 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

Britain at Washington, and since has represented 
his country in Paris up to the time of his recent 
death. This teacher, Mr. Lyons, being a younger 
brother without estate, though with Oxford edu- 
cation, like many thousands of strangers, had 
come to America for a maintenance, working out 
the great unseen problem of life which often 
startles us with its results ; for I honestly believe 
that the bias given to the minds of Jim Blaine and 
Tom Ewing, Jr., at Lancaster, Ohio, in 1840-1 by 
Mr. Lyons, has furnished us two of our brightest 
national luminaries. 

" Blaine's history from that time forth is well 
known to all who seek the truth, and I propose to 
limit myself in this article to a single episode, or 
it may be to two, of his brilliant career. 

" In 1846-48 occurred the war with Mexico. 
General Zachary Taylor commanded our troops, 
invading Mexico from the direction of Texas, and 
General Winfield Scott those from Vera Cruz. 
Both campaigns were eminently successful, and 
both leaders were afterwards sought for by the 
politicians of their day as Presidential candidates. 
I believe the military world will accord to General 



HIS CHARACTER, 227 

Scott the higher war honors ; but General Taylor 
had been equally brave, heroic and successful, and 
moreover possessed those personal qualities of 
patience, subordination and honesty which always 
command popular applause. Therefore, although 
the civilian politicians had expected to profit by 
the Mexican War, the American people chose for 
their President in November, 1849, General Zach- 
ary Taylor. 

**At the time of his election he was a major- 
general in the army of the United States, which 
commission he resigned January 31, 1849, ^^^ 
was inaugurated President, March 4, 1849. He 
was then possessed of property in Kentucky, and 
a sugar plantation, with slaves, in Louisiana. 

" His family was composed of his son Richard, 
who for a time was with his' father in Mexico and 
at Washington, who afterwards settled in Louisi- 
ana, and went off to the Southern Confederacy 
with the stampede of 1861 ; a daughter, Mrs. Ann 
M. Wood, wife of the eminent army surgeon, 
Robert C. Wood, and Mrs. Betty Bliss, wife of 
Major W. W. S. Bliss, then universally known 
and respected as General Taylor's most faithful 



228 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

military adjutant and private secretary. At that 
date, 1850, Mrs. Wood was with her husband at 
Fort McHenry, Baltimore, and Mrs. Bliss did the 
honors of the White House in Washington, from 
March 4, 1849, till her father's death. With them 
all I had a more or less intimate acquaintance. 
Surgeon Wood attended General Taylor in his 
last fatal illness, but his great skill and kindness 
were unavailing. President Taylor died July 9, 
1850, and his family afterwards became scattered. 
" Long years passed, the * Great Conspiracy of 
1861' was hatched, and the Civil War was at its 
crisis. In April, 1864, I found myself at Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, charged with a heavy load of re- 
sponsibility, but I had plenty of good men to help 
me, among them this same surgeon, Robert C. 
Wood, then promoted to be Assistant Surgeon- 
General, who had become an old man, with a 
young heart and a big soul. He was posted at 
Louisville to receive, care for and professionally 
treat the hundreds and thousands of poor fellows 
doomed to drift to the rear in the mad onslaught 
then preparing. He met his responsibilities like 
a man, and his letters, which I preserve, are proof 



HIS CHARACTER. 229 

to me that this world Is not as bad as represented. 
I went on, never saw him again, and only after- 
wards read in the Gazette that Assistant Surgeon- 
General Robert C. Wood died March 28, 1869, 
having served his country faithfully since 1825 — 
full forty- four years. 

" In the year 1873 General U. S. Grant was Pres- 
ident of the United States. I was General-in- 
Chief of the armies of the United States, and 
James G. Blaine was Speaker of the House of 
Representatives. All were resident in Washing- 
ton, D. C. I was seated in my office at the old 
War Department, now destroyed and replaced by 
a better one, when my orderly produced the card 
of "Mrs. Wood," widow of the late Assistant Sur- 
geon-General, U. S. A. Of course I instructed 
him to show the lady in. She was deeply veiled, 
then not uncommon, by reason of the many de- 
pendent widows and orphans who thronged the 
national capital to appeal for help. She, without 
unveiling, handed me a letter in the familiar hand- 
writing of the venerable General David Hunter, 
asking me to befriend 'the bearer.' Casting my 
eyes over it, I exclaimed, 'What! are you the 



230 LIFE OF GENERAL JVM. T. SHERMAN. 

widow of my old Surgeon-General Wood, and the 
daughter of General Zachary Taylor ? ' ' Yes,' she 
answered, raised her veil and revealed her features, 
then of an old lady, but beyond question the daugh- 
ter of General Zachary Taylor. * Dear Mrs. Wood 
what does this mean? What can I do for you?' 
She replied, 'T do not know, but General Hunter, 
our steadfast friend, has sent me to you,' and she 
went on to explain : 'When my husband died in 
1869, I supposed I had estate enough to satisfy 
my moderate wants. I went to Louisiana, took 
possession of the old sugar plantation, collected 
a few of the old slaves with promises of wages 
or shares, tried to make a living, but everything 
was out of joint. I then tried a lease with no 
better success. Now my daughter writes me 
from Austria that she is very sick and begs me 
to come to her. General Sherman ! I must go 
to my daughter, and I have not a cent. My 
old friends are all dead, and I know not what 
to do.' I naturally inquired how much money 
was necessary? She said a thousand dollars. 
I had not the money. General Hunter had not 
the money. How about your pension? 'When 



HIS CHARACTER. 231 

my husband died after forty-four years of faith- 
ful service In the Florida War, In the Mexican 
War and the great Civil War, I thought I could 
take care of myself and never asked for a pen- 
sion, but now my child calls to me from abroad.' 
*Mrs. Wood, I am sure we can easily make up 
a case under the General Pension Law, which 
will gjve you ^30 a month, but it can only date 
from the time of your formal application.' 
*What good will that do me?' she exclaimed; 
'my daughter is calling for me now! My 
passage across the ocean will cost ^120, and 
the incidental expenses afterwards will run up 
to a full thousand.' After a few moments' 
thousfht I said: 'Mrs. Wood, we must eet a 
Special bill, putting your name on the same list 
with that of Mrs. General Worth, Mrs. General 
Sumner and others, and have this special pen- 
sion to date back to your husband's death, viz.: 
March 28, 1869. This will require an act of 
Congress. What member of that body do you 
know from Louisiana ? ' * Alas, none.' ' What 
member from Kentucky ? ' * Not one.' ' Do 
you know anybody in Congress ? ' ' Not a 



232 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

single member." 'Don't you know Mr. Blaine? 
He is the Speaker of the House, a fellow of in- 
finite wit and unbounded generosity.' No, she 
had never met Mr. Blaine. ' Now, my dear Mrs. 
Wood, can you meet me this afternoon at the 
Speaker's Room, say at 4 p. m., punctually?' 'I 
will do anything,' she answered, 'that you ad- 
vise.' 'Then meet me at the Speaker's Room, 
south wing of the Capitol, at 4" o'clock this even- 
ing.' Of course she did. 

" I was there ahead of time, sent my card to Mr. 
Speaker Blaine, who was in his chair presiding 
over a noisy House, but who, as always, respond- 
ed quickly to my call. In a few words, I explained 
the whole case, and we went together to the 
Speaker's Room across the hall, behind the 
'Chair,' where sat the lady, closely veiled. No 
courtier since the days of Charlemagne ever 
approached a lady with more delicacy and grace 
than did Mr. Speaker Blaine the afflicted widow of 
Surgeon Wood, the daughter of General Zachary 
Taylor, aYormer President of the United States. 
After a few words of inquiry and explanation, he 
turned to me, and said: 'Great God! has it come 



HIS CHARACTER. 233 

to this, that the daughter of Zachary Taylor, and 
the widow of a faithful army surgeon who served 
his' country and mankind all his life, should be 
here knocking at the doors of Congress for the 
pitiful pension of fifty dollars a month?' I could 
only answer: **Tis true, and pity 'tis 'tis true.' 
Turninof to Mrs. Wood, Blaine continued: 'Your 
father was the first man I ever shouted for as 
President, and for you, his daughter, I will do all 
a man can in this complicated government. I 
will make your case my own. Don't leave this 
city till you hear from me.' Finding I had touched 
the proper chord of his generous nature, I advised 
Mrs. Wood to return to General Hunter's, and 
await the result. Blaine escorted her to the stair- 
way with many friendly expressions, returned to 
the Speaker's chair, and resumed his functions. 

" I did not remain, but learned from a friend 
afterwards the sequel. Blaine sat in his chair 
about an hour, giving attention to the business of 
the House, occasionally scribbling on a bit of 
paper, and when a lull occurred he called some 
member to take his place and walked straight to 
Mr. Holman, the 'Universal Objector,' saying: 



234 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

"Holman, I have a little matter of great interest 
which I want to rush through, please don't 
object.'" *What is it?' ^A special pension for 
the widow of Surgeon Wood, the daughter of 
General Zachary Taylor/ *Is it all right?' *Of 
course it is all right, and every American should 
blush that this thing could be.' 'Well,' said 
Holman, 'go ahead; I will be out of the way, in 
the cloak-room.' Watching his opportunity, 
James G. Blaine, as a Member of Congress for 
Maine, got the eye and ear of the Acting Speaker, 
made one of his most eloquent and beautiful 
speeches, introduced his little bill for the pension 
of Mrs. Wood for ^50 a month, to date back to 
the time of Surgeon Wood's death (about four 
years), which would give her about $2,400 of 
arrears and $600 a year for life. It was rushed 
through the House by unanimous consent, and 
Blaine followed it through to the Senate and to 
the President, where it became law, and this most 
deserving lady was enabled to go to Austria to be 
with her dauofhter in her illness. I understand that 
both are now dead, and that the overflowing treas- 
ury of the United States is no longer taxed by this 



HIS CHARACTER. 285 

pension, but I must rescue from oblivion the mem- 
ory of this pure act of unrecorded benevolence. 

''Pensions are not always matters of legal con- 
tract but of charity, which blesses him who gives 
as well as receives; and I of all men fully recog- 
nize the difficulty of making pensions subject to 
the tender feelings of an executive officer; but 
when I discover an Instance illustrating the een- 
ulne feeling, no one should object to my record- 
ing it and printing It If need be. 

" There is another phase In Mr. Blaine's charac- 
ter of which I, and I alone, can testify. The press 
of our country supposes that it controls public 
opinion and public events. Whereas in fact pru- 
dent men conceal their most Important thoughts. 
During the Civil War the Northern press was 
not friendly to the generals who succeeded, but 
lavished flattery without limit on the ' failures ' 
and on our distinguished opponents. 

"■ Well do I recall General McPherson's excla- 
mation a few days before his heroic death : ' Sher- 
man, why Is it that our Ohio papers, especially 
those of Cincinnati, continue their abuse of Grant, 
and you, and me, all natives of Ohio, who surely 



236 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

are doing our very best ? ' I could only answer 
that I did not know except that it was easier for 
the editors and reporters to fight battles in their 
safe offices in the North than among the rocks, 
ravines and rivers of the South. Yet we soldiers 
did eventually win the batde, and restored the 
country to its normal condition of law and peace. 

" In peace, also, the press is generally hostile to 
whomsoever is prominent and positive. Let any 
man rise above the common level, and the cry 
goes forth, crucify him ! crucify him ! — the same 
old story ! Nevertheless, I honestly believe the 
people of the United States to be a thinking 
people ; that the press chiefly records the gossip 
of the day, and that the future of our beloved 
land is safe in the custody of its good, industrious 
citizens. To be sure it sometimes requires an 
earthquake like that of 1861 to arouse them to 
serious thought. 

" In the year of our Lord 1884 there was to be 
a sharp contest for the nomination in Chicago 
for a presidential candidate of the Republican 
party. The press and people generally believed 
that Blaine w^anted It, and everybody turned to 



HIS CHARACTER. 237 

him as the man best quahfied to execute the poHcy 
to accomplish the result aimed at. Still, abnegat- 
ing himself, he wrote to me from Washington 
this letter: 

" ' Confidential, strictly and absolutely so, 
'' ' Washington, D. C, May 25, 1884. 
^* * My Dear General : 

'■' ' This letter requires no answer. After reading 
it file it away in your most secret drawer or give 
it to the flames. 

" ' At the approaching convention at Chicago it 
is more than possible, it is indeed not improbable, 
that you may be nominated for the Presidency. 
If so you must stand your hand, accept the re- 
sponsibility and assume the duties of the place to 
which you will surely be chosen If a candidate. 

" '- You must not look upon it as the work of the 
politicians. If it comes to you it will come as 
the ground-swell of poplar demand, and you 
can no more refuse than you could have refused 
to obey an order when you were a lieutenant in 
the army. If it comes to you at all it will come 
as a call of patriotism. It would In such an 



238 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

event Injure your great fame as much to decline 
it as It would for you to seek It. Your historic 
record, full as It Is, would be rendered still more 
glorious by such an administration as you would 
be able to give the country. Do not say a word 
in advance of the convention, no matter who 
may ask you. You are with your friends, who 
will jealously guard your honor and renown. 

"'Your friend, James G. Blaine.' 

" To which I replied : 

"'912 Garrison Avenue, St. Louis, Mo., 

"'May 28, 1884. 
" ' Hon. James G. Blaine, Washington, D. C. 

" ' My Dear Friend : I have received your letter 
of the 25th, shall construe it as absolutely confi- 
dential, not intimating even to any member of my 
family that I have heard . from you, and though 
you may not expect an answer I hope you will 
not construe one as unwarranted. 

" * I have had a great many letters from all points 
of the compass to a similar effect, one or two of 
which I have answered frankly, but the great mass 
are unanswered. 



HIS CHARACTER. 239 

" * I ought not to submit myself to the cheap 
ridicule of declining what is not offered, but it is 
only fair to the many really able men who right- 
fully aspire to the high honor of being President 
of the United States, to let them know that I am 
not and must not be construed as a rival. In 
every man's life occurs an epoch when he must 
choose his own career and when he may not 
throw off the responsibility, or tamely place his 
destiny in the hands of friends. Mine occurred 
in Louisiana, when, in 1861, alone in the midst of 
a people blinded by supposed wrongs, I resolved 
to stand by the Union as long as a fragment of it 
survived on which to cling. Since then, through 
faction, tempest, war and peace, my career has 
been all my family and friends could ask. We 
are now in a good house of our own choice, with 
reasonable provisions for old age, surrounded by 
kind and admiring friends, in a community where 
Catholicism is held in respect and veneration, and 
where my children will naturally grow up in con- 
tact with an industrious and frugal people. You 
have known and appreciated Mrs. Sherman from 
childhood, have also known each and all the 



240 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

members of my family, and can understand 
without an explanation from me how their 
thoughts should and feelings and ought to influ- 
ence my action. But I will not even throw off on 
them the responsibility. 

'' * I will not in any event entertain or accept a 
nomination as a candidate for President by the 
Chicago Republican Convention, or any other 
convention, for reasons personal to myself. I 
claim that the Civil War, in which I simply did a 
man's fair share of work, so perfectly accomplished 
peac^ that military men have an absolute right to 
rest, and to demand that the men who have 
been schooled in the arts and practice of peace 
shall now do their work equally well. Any Sena- 
tor can step from his chair at the Capitol into the 
White House and fulfill the office of President 
with more skill and success than a Grant, Sherman 
or Sheridan, who were soldiers by education and 
nature, who filled well their office when the 
country was in danger, but were not schooled in 
the practice by which civil communities are and 
should be governed. I claim that our experience 
since 1865 demonstrates the truth of this my prop- 



HIS CHARACTER. 241 

osltion. Therefore I say that patriotism does 
not demand of me what I construe as a sac- 
rifice of judgment, of incHnation, and of self- 
interest. 

" ' I have my personal affairs in a state of abso- 
lute safety and comfort. I owe no man a cent, 
have no expensive habits, envy no man his' 
w^ealth or power, no complications or indirect 
liabilities, and would account myself a fool, a mad- 
man, an ass, to embark anew at sixty-five years 
of age in a career that may become at any 
moment tempest-tossed by perfidy, the defalca- 
tion, the dishonesty or neglect of any single 
one of a hundred thousand subordinates utterly 
unknown to the President of the United States, 
not to say the eternal worriment by a vast host 
of impecunious friends and old military subordi- 
nates. Even as it is, I am tortured by the chari- 
table appeals of poor, distressed pensioners, but 
as President these would be multiplied beyond 
human endurance. 

'' 'I remember well the experience of Generals 
Jackson, Harrison, Taylor, Grant, Hayes and 
Garfield, all elected because of their military serv- 
16 



242 LII^E OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

ices, and am warned, not encouraged, by their sad 
experiences. 

" 'The civilians of the United States should and 
must buffet with this thankless office, and leave 
us old soldiers to enjoy the peace we fought for, 
and think we earned. 

" ' With profound respect, 

'' ' Your friend, W. T. Sherman.' 

"These letters prove absolutely that Mr. Blaine, 
though qualified, waived to me personally a nom- 
ination which the world still believes he then 
coveted for himself. 

" For copies of these letters I believe I have 
been importuned a thousand times, but as a 
soldier I claim the privilege of unmasking my 
batteries when I please. 

" In looking over my letter-book of that period I 
find one recorded and dated tv/o weeks before the 
Blaine letter, which is to me more satisfactory 
than any other, and therefore I embrace it in this 
article, which I want to be complete and final on 
this subject matter, viz.: 



HIS CHARACTER. 243 

"'912 Harrison Avenue, St. Louis, Mo., 
^''May 16, 1884. 
*' ' Hon. M. C. Butt, VIrogna, Wis. 

" ' My Dear Sir : I infer from your letter of 
May 14, just received, that you are one of those 
soldiers who served under me in the Rebellion, 
and that you entertain for me that most accepta- 
ble feeling of love and confidence which I value 
more than gold and riches. I also infer that you 
are a delegate to the Republican convention to 
meet at Chicago early in June, to select out of the 
great number of eminent and experienced men a 
candidate for President. 

" ' I am embarrassed by the receipt of many 
private letters intimating that my name may be 
presented, and that as an American officer and 
citizen I have no right to decline. It is simply 
exposing myself to ridicule to answer declining 
what Is not offered, and probably never will be ; 
and, as a rule, such letters are ignored ; but you 
are a Delegate, and. In my opinion, havQ a higher 
title In being a member of that Army which made 
our Government permanent and most honored 



244 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

among the Nations of the earth, therefore en- 
titled to an answer. 

" ' At this moment of time no danger or neces- 
sity exists which can make such a personal 
sacrifice necessary on my part. My brother, 
Senator Sherman, is fully advised of my views, so 
is my neighbor, ex-Senator Henderson, who wull 
be at Chicago as a delegate from Missouri, and 
both should relieve me of any embarrassment, 
for I will not allow the use of my name as a can- 
didate. I have a thousand reasons, any one of 
which to me Is good and sufficient, and I claim 
the full benefit of the freedom for which we 
fought of choosing for myself my own course of 
action in life. I do not want my old comrades to 
think me eccentric or unreasonable, but to con- 
cede to me the simple privilege of living out my 
own time in peace and comfort. 

" ' This letter Is meant for yourself alone and »ot 
for the public. 

"'With great respect, 

" * Yours, &c., W. T. Sherman/ 



HIS CHARACTER. 245 

"In giving to the North American Review at 
this late day these letters, which thus far have 
remained hidden in my private files, I commit no 
breach of confidence, and to put at rest a matter 
of constant inquiry referred to in my letter of 
May 28, 1884, I ^^^^ record that my immediate 
family are strongly Catholic. I am not and can- 
not be. That is all the public has a right to 
know ; nor do I wish to be construed as depart- 
ing from a resolve made forty years ago never 
to embark in politics. The brightest and best 
youth of our land have been drawn into that 
maelstrom, and their wrecked fortunes strew the 
beach of the Ocean of Time. My memory even 
in its short time brings up names of victims by 
the hundreds, if not thousands. 

" Still American citizens should take an interest 
in public events, because with them resides the 
ultimate power, the * Sovereignty.' We have 
thrown overboard the old doctrine of the Divine 
right of kings, and substituted 'The wilLof the 
people,' and the civilized world looks toward 
America for a solution of the greatest problem of 
human existence and \i2.'^'^\xv^^s, good government ; 



246 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

this is only possible by watching jealously and 
closely the drift of public events. 

'* Thus far as a nation we have met every phase, 
colonial and national, military and civil, and in 
my judgment the people of the United States 
have in the past fifty years accomplished larger 
physical results than those of Asia in a thousand 
years or of Europe in five hundred years. I am 
equally convinced that our people in every sec- 
tion are more intelligent, more temperate, and 
enjoy more of the comforts of life than did our 
immediate ancestors. So that we are well war- 
ranted in allowing the drift of public events to 
continue as now, as little disturbed by artificial 
obstructions as possible. ' Tis true that ' eternal 
vigilance is the price of liberty,' and citizens 
should and must watch the conduct of their chosen 
agents. Acts are substantial, words and profes- 
sions are only idle wind ; none but men who have 
done well should be chosen to ofiice. The worst 
men always promise most — and of all things the 
Nation should not be represented abroad by men 
who labored to destroy the Government. Again, the 
incident recently reported as having occurred at 



HIS CHARACTER. 247 

Richmond, Virginia, of displaying the Rebel flag 
In a procession to which Union men were invited, 
amonof them the venerable Andrew G. Curtin, of 
Pennsylvania, one of the famous war governors, 
who to my personal knowedge has gone to the 
extreme limit of possibility to create a perfect 
reconciliation, was calculated to arouse feelings 
which it were wiser to allow to die out. We 
now have a common country, a common destiny, 
and but a single national flag. 

" I was glad to receive from high authority the 
assurance that the affair had been greatly exag- 
gerated. Still it is well to emphasize the fact that 
the Rebel flag went down Jorever at Appomattox, 
and cannot be resurrected without protest. If not 
actual bloodshed. W. T. Sherman.'* 

In this connection a letter written by General 

Sherman's son, Rev. T. E. Sherman, will be read 

with special Interest. Mr. Sherman wrote as 

follows : 

"912 Garrison Avenue, 

" St. Louis, Mo., June i, 1878 

" The Ho7i. Samuel Reber, 

"My Dear Sir: I sail on Wednesday, the 5th 



.248 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

inst., from New York to Liverpool by the steamer 
Scythia of the Cunard Line, and as the purpose of 
my voyage has relation to the whole future course 
of my life, I desire that you, as a friend and kins- 
man of the family, should know definitely and 
explicitly what that purpose is. You are aware, 
my dear Sir, that I graduated a few weeks ago at 
the Law School of the Washington University in 
this city. You know, too, that my father has 
given me a complete education for the bar, having 
sent me to Georgetown College to make my 
classics and mathematics, then to the Scientific 
School at Yale for a foundation in natural sciences 
and modern languages, and finally to our St. Louis 
Law School, where I have attended the full course 
of lectures during the past two years under the 
kind instruction of yourself and our other learned 
professors. 

" For some time past I have had a strong leaning 
for the ministry, and so having now reached 
the age when every man has to choose his own 
career In life, and having weighed this Important 
matter of a choice with all the care and deliber- 
ation of which I am capable I have decided to 



HIS CHARACTER. 249 

become a Catholic priest. How long ago I 
reached this decision, what means I have taken to 
test and confirm myself in my resolution, and why, 
having finally decided, I now choose to go to Eng- 
land to make part of my preparation for the 
priesthood, are Inquiries which are of no Interest to 
any one but myself, and to answer them would be 
apart from the object of this letter. 

**I write to Inform you, and beg you to communi- 
cate the information to those who may inquire 
concerning me, that I assume to myself the whole 
responsibility of my choice. As with me alone 
rested the duty and the burden of choosing 
a path In life, so with me alone rests the blame 
or praise of having chosen the Church Instead 
of law. 

'' My father, as you know. Is not a Catholic, and 
therefore the step I am taking seems as starding 
and as strange to him as, I have no doubt, It does 
to you, my dear Sir. I go without his approval, 
sanction, or consent ; In fact, In direct opposition 
to his best wishes in my behalf. For he had 
formed other plans for me, which are now defeat- 
ed, and had other hopes and expectations in my 



250 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. . T SHERMAN. 

regard, which are necessarily dashed to the 
ground. 

*' In conclusion, my dear Sir, I have one request to 
make, and I make it not only to you, but to all our 
friends and relations to whom you may see fit to 
show this letter or communicate its contents ; it is 
this: 

"Feeling painfully aware that I have^grieved and 
disappointed my father, I beg my friends and his, 
one and all, of whatever religion they may be, to 
spare him inquiries or comments of any sort, for 
I cannot help feeling that anything of the kind 
would be ill-timed and inappropriate. 

" Trusting to your delicacy and to theirs to 
appreciate my motive in this, and to comply with 
a request so isasily fulfilled, I remain with great 
respect affectionately and sincerely yours,'* 

Thomas Ewing Sherman. 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 



¥ 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 



BY HORATIO G. KING. 

T REGARD It as one of the greatest privi- 
leges of my life that I have been favored with 
the close friendship of General Sherman. He was 
the most interesting conversationalist I have ever 
met and his fund of reminiscences was seemingly 
inexhaustible. Of course I have met him at many 
army reunions, and one of my annual duties as 
secretary of the society of the Army of Potomac 
was to secure his attendance at its reunion. I 
shall never forget the first address he made at one 
of our meetings, held in Philadelphia on June 6 
of the centennial year. He made quite a lengthy 
and patriotic off-hand address, In which he coun- 
seled tenderness toward the South. * Let us,' he 
said, ' forgive and forget — provided they will do the 
same.' At that time there was considerable real 

253 



254 LIFE OF GENERAL JVM. T. SHERMAN. 

or feigned apprehension among politicians that 
the South might try conclusions in another war. 
Of this he said : * We cherish only feelings of 
charity, of kindness, of forgiveness toward the 
people of the South. We are ready to forgive 
and forget if they will do the same. But if they 
will not (pointing to the muskets and cannon on 
the stage), boys, there's the things!' The effect 
was electric, 'and I am sure it was at least five 
minutes before . the applause and enthusiasm 
abated. Then he added, * I see you understand 
your business. But I am out of practice now, and 
I am going to be a peaceable man from this time 
on.* At the banquet he responded to the toast to 
the regular army and made an earnest appeal in 
Its behalf, strongly criticising the parsimony of the 
government toward Its small force, which, by the 
way, at that very time was occupied In an Indian 
war. 

" General Sherman has felt of late years that 
his strength was being too strongly taxed by the 
incessant social demands upon him, He never 
could refuse his old Western associates, but I had 
some difficulty to persuade him that he had as 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 255 

many friends In the Army of the Potomac, and that 
he really belonged not to a section of the grand 
army, but the whole army. But he almost always 
acceded to my request, but at Saratoga Springs in 
1887 he gave me a most laughable scoring for my 
persistence. I cannot do better than give the 
entire extract from his speech at the banquet. He 
said: * By the law of our land, which is the only 
king we worship, I was turned out to grass and I 
was told that I could spend the rest of my days in 
peace and retirement I sought refuge in the 
city of St. Louis, where I have many, many friends 
and which city I love very much. I found but 
little peace there. But I read, I think in Dr. 
Johnson, that peace and quiet could only be had 
in a great city or in the forest — in nature's wilder- 
ness. I therefore sought it In New York City. I 
then read In " Wilhelm Meister," by Goethe, by 
whom is the beautiful poem, *'Mignon," that on the 
heights lies repose. I have chosen Cceur de Leon 
lake, In Idaho; and you don't know where It Is. 
But a friend here, your secretary, Horatio C. 
King, initiates a new doctrine, that because I 
happen to be a survivor, I suppose of the fittest, I 



256 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

must fulfill all the offices of all my dead comrades: 
therefore I must come to the reunion of the Army 
of the Potomac ; I must go to West Point ; I must 
go to Chicago; I must go to Detroit; I must go 
wherever an army band meets, because I am the 
only survivor. Where comes the peace? My 
friends, I come with a full heart, God knows. I 
love you all because you fought for the common 
flag/ Some years ago there was a little captain in 
the army called Bonneville. He got peace and 
quiet. He asked for two years' leave of absence 
and got it, and he went out to the mountains where 
Salt Lake now Is. Nobody knew where It was 
then. That was about fifty years ago. Bonne- 
ville was a little fellow. God knows when he was 
born ; I don't. It was before the age of man. He 
was an aide de camp with Lafayette in 1824. He 
went off and caught beavers and otter, and fished, 
and the crows came and cleaned him out, and he 
kept out of the way for two years more. He was 
reported dead. He went to the adjutant-general 
and reported, but the adjutant says, " Bonneville 
is dead." He says, ** I am not dead.' " Oh, yes," 
said the adjutant, *'you are dead ; you are as dead 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 257 

as a mackerel. Go- away from here and don't 
disturb the record.'* Bonneville insisted that he 
was not dead and he Insisted upon going back 
on the army register so that he could get his pay. 
I fell In with Washington Irving, one of the sweet- 
est men that ever lived and one of your citizens. 

" He painted the tale of Bonneville so that his 
name will pass down to history. God bless him 
and his memory — Washington Irving. Now, I 
want your secretary, Mr. Horatio C. King, just to 
mark me dead and I won't turn up. I won't 
bother him as my old friend Bonneville disturbed 
Jones. Let me alone and I will have some peace 
the rest of my days.' 

" On the morning before the banquet and after 
the splendid address by Chauncey M. Depew, 
Sherman v/as first called out and was equally 
happy. He said in his usual easy and witty style : 
■'The Army of the Potomac has a great deal of 
assurance. We bummers of the West sometimes 
questioned some of their great claims. I never 
have and never will. I admire the tenacity, the 
courage and perseverance and magnificent hero- 
ism of the Army of the Potomac, but I certainly 
17 



258 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

claim some share of credit for us of the West, 
who began at the beginning and came over thir- 
teen hundred miles to help the Army of the Po- 
tomac, and they ought to be somewhat grateful 
to us for that. I have been very much interested 
to-night, chiefly because I can see In this audi- 
ence, magnificent In Its appearance, ladles and 
gentlemen, young and old, who have come here 
to do honor to the old soldiers who are passing 
away and whom you can almost count by tens. 
They remain now on earth simply as specimens 
of what once existed, types of a great army, of 
the grand old Army of the Potomac. Our West- 
ern army Is equally thinning out. The best are 
gone. God calls those first whom He loves most, 
and a few old sticks, of which I am one, remain 
and God only knows why. I suppose to be both- 
ered by such people as you, who call upon me for 
a speech. I was told If I would come up here I 
should not be called upon, but that to-morrow 
night I might have to respond to the toast of our 
sister societies. In the West we used to call them 
brothers, but these Potomac people have their own 
language. I saw few sisters during the war, but 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES.. 259 

I saw a great many very good brothers — strong, 
stalwart fellows, men who went up the Tennes- 
see river with the intent to overcome all diffi- 
culties. 

**In concluding he had something to say about 
the anarchists who were just then disturbing the 
peace of Chicago and It is worth quoting here: 
^And now that the war is over,' he said, 'we ought 
to thank God that we live in a country where free- 
dom is universal and where each and every man 
who behaves himself and deserves it, can enjoy 
all that God gives him. As to these red Republi- 
cans, or whatever they call themselves, though I 
am past fighting age, I am not afraid of the red 
flag; and as we are in Saratoga, this historic 
ground beneath the shadow of Mount McGregor, 
and with such an audience before me, I see token 
that we need not fear these anarchists. I would 
turn them over to the guard-house in charge of a 
corporal's guard, and if that would not settle it I 
would hang them and have done with it. But I 
assure you, good friends, that wherever I go, from 
here to Oregon, to places you never hear of, I find 
an audience — I will not say as intelligent as this, 



2G0 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

but a very respectable audience. They love 
peace, they love order, system, good government, 
and they are going to have it, they will have it; 
and if anv disturbinor element comes in from 
abroad or within, we will squelch it quicker than 
we did the civil war.' 

"His last appearance at the Army of the Po- 
tomac re-unions was in Portland in July last, and 
I never saw him in better spirits. I had really ex- 
ecuted a flank movement upon him, for I had half 
promised him if he would go to the Saratoga re- 
union, I wouldn't urge him again. So I had 
quietly run on to Portland, explained the situation 
to Major Melcher and told them if they wanted to 
secure Sherman's presence the best way was to 
make him the guest of the city. This the com- 
mon council immediately did. The very day the 
resolution passed that body I met the General at 
the meeting of the Loyal Legion at Delmonico's. 
His first greeting to me was 'King, I'm not going; 
it's no use, I can't go. I am getting worn out.' I 
laughingly replied, 'Well, general, I promised you 
that I wouldn't ask you again, and I have kept it. 
But how in the world are you going to refuse the 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 261 

unanimous request of 35,000 people?' Well, he 
went, and everything was provided for his comfort 
and convenience. He had a room near to mine, 
and I had some glorious hours in private chat with 
him that I can never forget, but the details of the 
conversation I am sorry I cannot fully recall. He 
was interesting on any subject and you may be 
sure that I had sense enough not to do much of 
the talking. Of course he was the central figure, 
and at the great meeting In the City Hall was 
called up as soon as General F. A. Walker had 
concluded his oration, which was a masterly 
recital of the grand review at Washington at the 
close of the war. Naturally, as Walker was ad- 
dressing the Army of the Potomac he confined his 
description to the review of that army with which 
he was connected. Sherman noted the omission 
of any reference to the review of the second day, 
and touched upon It in his customary mixture of 
fun and criticism. He said, 'Now, my friends, I 
have had a great deal of experience in my life, 
and I have learned since I have been upon this 
stage, the grand review In Washington terminated 
when the Army of the Potomac passed. It re- 



262 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

minds me of a story which General Taylor is said 
to have told once to an applicant in Washington 
who urged his claims on the ground of having 
been a hero of the first water at the battle of 
Buena Vista. General Taylor said that he had 
heard of so many things that had occurred there, 
while he thought he was there himself, he had 
come to the conclusion that he was not there at 
all. I have heard so much of that review that I 
think I was there, and I think that review occupied 
two full days. The first day the Army of the 
Potomac had the floor, and I was upon the stage 
at the time, as I am now, taking notes and obser- 
vations that I might profit by them, for, if you re- 
member, my young friends, and old friends too, 
the Army of the West did not have a very fair 
standing in your eyes for discipline and order. 
You got your opinion of us from rebel soldiers, 
and we chased them eighteen hundred miles into 
your camp. And we found that even the author- 
ities in Washington had not a very good opinion 
of our armies. They thought we were rather lia- 
ble to disorder. Now, I assure you, my friends, 
we were a better drilled army than you were. I 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 263 

ought to know, for I was their commanding- gen- 
eral. Let me give you a Httle piece of history 
which I have only given to my personal friends. 
I was on that stand before Meade was and even 
before President Johnson and his Cabinet. Meade 
first came with his staff, as you have heard very 
well described, and as he wheeled into the White 
House grounds, up came Custer, and some lady 
flung a circular wreath to him, and in trying to 
secure it his horse went off like a shot and Cus- 
ter was not reviewed at all, and his division of 
cavalry, by the way, would not have passed 
muster on the Champ de Mars, in Paris. The 
horses were good, the men sublime, but they 
were not good looking to review. Now, the 
Intervals between divisions were too large and I 
kept my eye on them and watched them all the 
while. But the worst mistake was that your 
Army of the Potomac men had two bands right 
opposite our reviewing stand, loaned you by 
the stay at homes In Washington. They were 
those pampered and well-fed bands that are 
taught to play the very latest operas. Your men 
did not understand It and did not keep step. 



264 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

Now, to keep step and dress right and keep the 
eyes to the front is the first duty of a soldier. A 
great many of your men turned their eyes around 
Hke country gawks to look at the big people on 
the stand. Those are little things. You know 
there are tricks in in every trade, my friends, 
tricks in war as well as in peace. While I was 
on the stand Meade came to me and I said, 
"Meade, I'm afraid my poor tatterdemalion corps 
will make a poor appearance to-morrow when 
contrasted with yours." Meade said, "Sherman, 
the people in Washington are now so well dis- 
posed to the army they will make all allowances, 
you needn't be afraid." That evening I got a 
ncte from General Auger, saying that if I wanted 
those two magnificent bands I could have them. 
I said, "Thank you, but I will stick to my old 
bands," and I sent word to my men, "Be careful 
about your intervals and your tactics. Don't let 
your men be looking back over their shoulders. 
I will give you plenty of time to go to the capitol 
and see everything afterward, but let them keep 
their eyes fifteen feet to the front and march by 
in the old customary way." And they did so. 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES, 265 

When the review was over the two constituted a 
thing of magnificent proportions. As to the pa- 
triotism within our hearts, and the principles that 
moved those great masses of men to a common 
purpose, we need not speak, for history has done so, 
and the most eloquent tongues in the country 
have spoken of it, and nothing more can be said 
on that point. But on the simple question of tac- 
tics, instruction and discipline, we can take lessons 
to the very last days of our life.' 

" His comparison of Portland, Ore., with the 
Portland in which he then spoke also called out a 
good deal of good-natured comment. Sherman 
was tremendously loyal to the West and far West, 
though his great heart took in the whole country, 
which he loved with the highest patriotic fervor 
and devotion. His last public appearance at a 
soldiers' gathering in Brooklyn was at the presen- 
tation by Lafayette Post of flags to the Packer and 
Polytechnic Institutes. It was a glorious scene and 
he made one of his effective, patriotic addresses 
to the great audience, which included several 
hundred of the pupils of these schools. Major 
D. F. Wright and myself accompanied him home^ 



266 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

and In the long ride to Seventy-first street he kept 
up a continued fire of reminiscences of the early 
days of California and also of the rebellion. He 
is the last of the great triumvirate of generals — 
Grant, Sherman and Sheridan — for in that order 
they will always be named, yet, to my thinking, 
Sherman possessed the highest military genius, 
and as a strategist had not his equal in the war 
of the rebellion." 

General Sherman was of all things a great lover 
and stickler for truth, and he had no use for a liar. 
As characteristic of this I will mention an incident 
of a conversation with him onlya few months ago. 
I called upon him with Col. John Hamilton to invite 
and persuade him to attend the exercises at the 
Brooklyn Academy of Music on the occasion of 
the presentation of flags by the Lafayette Post to 
the pupils of the Packer and Polytechnic Institutes. 
He spoke of the incessant demands made upon 
him, especially in a social way, and he felt that he 
must resist them or his health would give way. 
" I don't like the idea," he continued, " but I sup- 
pose I'll have to do as others do. There are 

and and (naming several prominent din- 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 267 

ers out) ; they tell me that they constantly accept 
invitations and make engagements they do not 
mean to keep. But I am afraid I can't do it. I 
never voluntarily broke an engagement in my life." 

BROKE NO ENGA GEMENTS. 

Although he had a severe cold, which would 
have justified his remaining at home, he neverthe- 
less came to Brooklyn, and made a patriotic 
address to those young ladies and gentlemen, and 
the great audience which packed the house, which 
they will never forget. His theme was the 
American flag. I recall especially one ex- 
pression which he subsequently told me was 
entirely unpremeditated. He was speaking of the 
Confederate flag — the " Stars and Bars" — and 
said: "They cutout the blue. They left heaven 
out of their flag, and so were destined to 
defeat." 

His first attendence at an Army of the Potomac 
reunion was at Philadelphia in April, 1870. The 
toast assigned him was "The United States 
Army," a theme upon which his official position 
required him to ring the changes for thirty years 



268 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

or more. He was then commanding the army, 
and was very proud of its record. After praising 
its long and glorious history, he said : " The little 
Regular Army was swallowed up in the war of the 
rebellion, but not lost, for \i not only preserved its 
own organization, but permeated the great mass 
of the volunteers and aided in giving them form 
and spirit. If, therefore, it lessened the duration of 
the war by a single year or a single month, it more 
than paid back to our people its entire cost for the 
previous half-century. It certainly has a right to 
claim its proportion in the glorious result, the 
fruits of which we now enjoy, and that is all the 
share it asks." 

HK LOVED PEACH. 

In May, 1873, he was at the reunion In New 
Haven, and there, too, were Grant, then President, 
and Vice-President Wilson, Sheridan, Burnside, 
McDowell, Devens, Hartranft and other notable 
men. His subject was again the army, coupled 
with the navy, concerning which latter he said : 
'' In truth, Mr. President, to expect a landsman to 
glow in praise of the sea, and the dangers and 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES, 269 

delights of it, is more than ought to be expected 
of me." After a handsome eulogy of the army he 
passed to the question of internadonal arbitration, 
of which he said, "I, for one, am perfectly willing 
to pass all subjects of the controversy to the peace 
congress. We of the regular army are essentially 
peace men. We love peace — we love it so well 
that we will fight for it. That is all you did in the 
war. You rose up and buckled on your armor 
that you might secure peace in the land you loved 
— loved dearer than your lives." 

At Hartford, in 1881, at the reunion, he paid his 
respects to Jefferson Davis's " Rise and Fall of 
Southern Confederacy," then first published. Said 
he : ' I confess I have not seen the volume, only 
the copious extracts, and hardly know whether to 
treat them seriously or jocularly. It was not 
expected that he would feel kindly to those who 
awakened him so rudely from his dream of 
empire ; but surely in stating facts beyond the 
reach of his vision or understanding, he ought to 
have approximated the truth even as to his 
enemies. Assuming the quotations published to 
be authentic, I wish to say that it was lucky for Mr. 



270 LIFE OF GENERAL VVM. T. SHERMAN. 

Davis that General Johnston, in May, 1864, did 
not obey his orders and assume the offensive from 
Dalton to the north side of the Tennessee River. 
One would suppose that after the experience of 
Johnston and Hood, whose skill and courage no 
man disputes, even Mr. Davis would be con- 
vinced that the aggressive campaign foreshadowed 
in his seven general propositions of April 16, 
1864, was the veriest nonsense. Johnston did 
not have at Dalton 70,000 men, and Mr. Davis 
ought to have known it, and Johnston on the spot 
was better qualified to judge than Mr. Davis at 
Richmond." 

HIS LAST ARMY SPEECH. 

I could fill columns with extracts from his 
speeches at these reunions, teeming with personal 
reminiscences, historic facts, wit, wisdom and 
patriotism. His last appearance before us was at 
Portland last summer, and he was never more 
happy or more overflowing with that geniality 
which ever characterized his grand and yet simple 
nature. His place is vacant, and the "boys" in 
the East will miss him quite as much as the 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES, 271 

" boys" of the West who followed him unfalteringly 
through many glorious campaigns until they 
joined their companions at Washington in that 
final review of the finest army the world ever saw. 
General Sherman's affection for any and all men 
who wore the blue was unstinted. In a recent 
conversation with Major D. F. Wright and myself 
he said he expected to be laid at rest in St. Louis, 
and wanted to be buried by his old Post Ransom, 
a wish which was fully carried out. It is an ex- 
ceptional honor that all old soldiers are justified 
in envying. 



272 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 



BY GEORGE W. CHILDS. 

T RECALL an incident which happened while 
we were at Long Branch, just after General 
Sherman's Memoirs had been published. Refer- 
ring to the work, I asked if General Grant had 
read it. He said he had not had time to do sOc 
One of the persons present observed, " Why, 
General, you won't find much in it about yourself. 
Sherman doesn't seem to think you were in the 
war." The General said, *' I don't know ; I have 
seen some adverse criticisms, but I am going to 
read it and judge the book for myself." 

After he had perused the work carefully and 
attentively, I asked him what he thought of it. 
''Well," he said, "it has done me full justice. It 
has given me more credit than I deserve. Any 
criticism I mio^ht make would be that I think 
Sherman has not done justice to Logan, Blair, 
and other volunteer generals, whom he calls poli- 
tical generals. These men did their duty faith- 
272 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 273 

fully, and I never believe in imputing motives to 
people." 

General Sherman had sent to me the proof- 
sheets of that portion of the Memoirs relating to 
General Grant before the book was published, 
and asked if I had any suggestions to make, and 
if I thought he had been just to the General. I 
informed General Grant that I had read these 
proof-sheets, and that I thought, as he did, that 
General Sherman had done him full justice. Gen- 
eral Grant had the highest opinion of General 
Sherman as a military man, and always enter- 
tained a great personal regard for him. He was 
always magnanimous, particularly to his army 
associates. He was a man who rarely used the 
pronoun / in conversation when speaking of his 
battles. 

There is an amusing little Incident I recall, a 
propos of a large painting of General Sherman on 
his " March to the Sea," which hangs in the hall of 
my Long Branch house, and which was painted by 
Kauffmann. Sherman sits in front of the tent, in 
a white shirt, without coat or vest. The picture 
shows a camp-fire in front, and the moonlight in 
18 



274 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

the rear of the tents. The criticism of General 
Grant when he first saw It was, "That Is all very 
fine; it looks like Sherman; but he never wore a 
boiled shirt there, I am sure." 

While living at Long Branch few Confederate 
officers who visited the place failed to call upon 
General Grant. He was always glad to see them, 
and he Invariably talked over with them the Inci- 
dents and results of the war. The General held 
in high estimation General Joseph E. Johnston, 
and always spoke of him as one of the very best 
of the Southern generals. At one of my dinners 
I had the pleasure of getting Johnston, Gran.t, 
Sherman, and Sheridan together. 

General Sherman, who, during all the preced- 
ing ceremonies, had sat on the platform with folded 
hands and tear-dlmmed and downcast eyes. In re- 
sponse to many calls, was Introduced. As the 
General arose the assemblage broke forth into 
wild cheering. 

The applause was persistent as General Sher- 
man stood upon his feet, after repeated calls. He 
spoke with feeling, and his deeply-lined face, 
closely watched by those who never before had 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 273 

seen him, was moved by Intense earnestness, 
The light of clustered lamps fell upon his silvered 
head as he spoke, and his strong face was tremu- 
lous with emotion as he referred to the fact that 
by a strange accident of nature he was the only 
one living now of the three whose portraits were 
before his hearers, and there was a sad quality In 
his voice when he said, "I was older than either 
Grant or Sheridan." 

I recall General Sherman's speech at the time 
I presented portraits of himself, Grant and Sheri- 
dan to the Military Academy at West Point. 

GENERAL SHERMAN'S REMARKS. 

** * Ladies and Gentlemen and those Cadets 
behind: I fear that West Point is losing that good 
old reputation for doing and not speaking. I 
have done more talking than I should have done, 
and I believe I have done some good, though not 
such as I thought of doing. It Is one of those 
strange Incidents of my life that I am permitted to 
stand before you to-night the sole survivor of the 
trio, or trinity, of the Generals of the Army of the 
United States. I was older than Grant or Sheri- 



276 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

dan. No three men ever lived on the earth's sur- 
face so diverse in mental and physical attributes 
as the three men whose portraits you now look 
upon. Different in every respect except one — 
we had a guiding star; we had an emblem of 
nationality in our minds Implanted at West Point, 
which m.ade us come together for the common 
purpose like the rays of the sun coming together 
make them burn. This, my young friends in 
gray, I want you to remember, that men may 
differ much, but that by coming together In har- 
mony and friendship and love they may move 
mountains. 

"*I knew these men from the soles of their feet 
to the tops of their heads. They breathed the 
same feelings with me. We were soldiers to obey 
the orders of our country's government and carry 
them out whatever the peril that threatened us. 
Having done so, we laid down our arms, like good 
citizens that we hope to have been, giving the 
example to all of the world that war Is for one 
purpose — to produce peace. A just war will pro- 
duce peace; an unjust war has ambition or some 
other bad motive. Our war was purely patriotic, 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 277 

to help the Government in its peril. We were 
taught to idolize that flag on the flagstaff, obey- 
ing the common law, and working to a common 
purpose. No jealousies, nothing of the kind; 
working together like soldiers, the lieutenant 
obeying the captain, the captain his colonel, the 
brigadier the general, and all subordinate to the 
President of the Unites States — the Commander- 
in-Chief There is no need to prophesy; it is as 
plain as mathematics. You can look in the 
heavens and read It. It is the lesson of life. 
When war comes you can have but one purpose 
— your country — and by your country I mean the 
whole country, not part of it.'" 

HISTORY OF THE PORTRAITS. 

Major John M. Carson, chief of the Philadel- 
phia Ledger Bureau at Washington, has furnished 
the following account of the painting of the por- 
traits of' Generals Grant, Sherman and Sheridan 
for the Military Academy:- — 

''The creation of portraits of Generals Grant, 
Sherman, and Sheridan now hung In the Cadet 
Mess Hall — to be hereafter known as Grant 



278 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

Hall — at the United States Military Academy, 
West Point, was begun about three years ago. 
The original purpose was confined to a portrait 
of Grant. The portraits of Sherman and Sheri- 
dan sprang from this purpose, and considering 
the relations of Mr. George W. Childs, to whose 
patriotism and liberality the Military Academy is 
indebted for the portraits, with those three military 
chieftains, the Sherman and Sheridan paintings 
were an easy and logical outgrowth. The scheme 
from which these three large valuable paintings 
emanated was evolved from a comparatively un- 
important incident. About four years ago, with 
that skill and ingenuity which have made him 
famous in the manacrement of the Cadet Mess, 
Captain William F. Spurgin, Treasurer, Quarter- 
master and Commissary of Cadets, succeeded in 
giving the Mess Hall a new floor and having its 
walls brightened. 

"Captain Spurgin next conceived the idea of 
making the Hall still more attracdve by hanging 
pictures and portraits upon the walls. This was 
approved by General Wesley Merritt, then Super- 
intendent of the Academy, who authorized the 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 279 

transfer from the library of several portraits for 
this purpose. When these were hung in the 
Mess Hall a new idea was suggested to Captain 
Spurgin, and he concluded that It would be most 
appropriate to collect for the Hall portraits and 
photographs of the distinguished graduates of the 
Academy. It was naturally thought that the 
dally presence with the cadets of these exemplars 
of the Academy could not fail to exercise a whole- 
some influence upon the corps. They would fur- 
nish cadets when at meals suggestions for thought 
and conversation, and those who occupied seats 
at tables once occupied by Grant, Sherman, Sheri- 
dan, Meade, Thomas, Hancock, and other emi- 
nent graduates, as they looked upon the portraits, 
would be encouraged to emulate the lives of those 
great chieftains. In addition to this, it was 
thought that such a gallery might be collected 
through relatives and friends, wkhout expense to 
the Government or the Academy. 

''During one of my periodical visits to the 
Academy Captain Spurgin outlined his scheme, 
and said he v/ould like to obtain a good picture of 
General Grant. It was suggested that Mr. 



280 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

George W. Chllds had several good large size 
photographs of Grant, and would doubtless be 
glad to contribute one of them for this use. 
Captain Spurgin wrote to Mr. Childs, who agreed 
to comply with the request made. Shortly there- 
after Mr. Childs mentioned this matter to Mrs. U. 
S. Grant, who said that she would like, above all 
things, to have a good likeness of her husband 
at the Military Academ)^ for which he always 
entertained a feeling of admiration and love. 
Some years prior to this Mr. Childs had Leutze, 
who painted 'Westward the Course of Empire* 
upon the wall of the w^est stairway to the gallery 
of the House of Representatives, at Washington, 
paint a portrait of General Grant, and suggested 
that the Leutze painting be transferred from the 
library to the Cadet Mess Hall. The Leutze 
portrait was not liked by Mrs. Grant, and she did 
not, therefore, care to have it used for this pur- 
pose. Mr. Childs then said he would have a 
portrait of the General made for West Point 
from any picture Mrs. Grant might select. The 
photograph made by Gutekunst, of Philadelphia, 
in 1865, was selected by Mrs. Grant, and Mrs. 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 281 

Darragh, of Philadelphia, was commissioned to 
paint a portrait from it. The General stood for 
this photograph. It Is regarded by his family, and 
those who were his associates, as a correct like- 
ness of the General as he appeared at the close 
of the war. When the photograph was taken 
General Grant wore upon his left arm a badge of 
mourninor for President Lincoln. This emblem of 
mourning does not appear In the painting. To 
many of those who knew General Grant after he 
became President, the Darragh portrait is not 
considered good, but by the family of the General, 
and by those who were Intimate with him during 
and Immediately after the war, It Is regarded as a 
faithful likeness and an excellent portrait. It was 
sent to the Academy In May, 1887, and hung on 
the north wall of the Cadet Mess Hall. General 
Merritt, 'In honor of the great graduate of the 
Academy, whose portrait, a present to the 
Academy from Mr. George W. Childs, sanctifies 
the hall as a gallery for the portraits of graduates,' 
Issued an order directing that thereafter the cadet 
dinlng-hall should be known officially as Grant 
Hall. 



282 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

**In June, 1887, a few days after the Grant 
portrait had been hung, Mr. Childs visited the 
Military Academy as a member of the Board of 
Visitors, upon which occasion I accompanied him. 
General Sheridan also visited the Academy at 
that time in his official capacity as Lieutenant- 
General commanding the army, and It proved to 
be his last visit to the institution. In company 
with Mr. Childs General Sheridan visited the 
dining-hall to inspect the Grant portrait, and dur- 
ing this inspection Mr. Childs said to the General, 
in his quick but cheerful manner in conversation: 
* General, if I outlive you I will have your portrait 
painted and hung there beside that of Grant.' 

'^Sheridan responded: 'Mr. Childs, if you 
intend to have painted a portrait of me I would 
like to see it before it is hung In this hall.' 

"'All right,' said Mr. Childs; 'you shall see it. 
I would prefer to have you painted while living.' 

"After further conversation about the Grant 
portrait, the two gentlemen left the hall and 
walked to the house of the superintendent. Gen- 
eral Merritt, at which General Sheridan was a 
guest. Mr. Childs proceeded to the West Point 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 283 

Hotel. Sheridan arrived at the Point that morn- 
ing, and was to review the corps of cadets in the 
afternoon, and, as it was near the hour fixed for 
the parade when General Merritt's house was 
reached, he went directly to his room to don his 
uniform. While thus enoraored he sent a messen- 

o o 

ger to Mr. Childs, asking that gentleman to join 
him before * parade,' and, at the same time, in- 
vited the Board of Visitors, through Mr. Childs, 
who was President of the Board, to attend him 
during the ceremonies of parade and review. 

"When Mr. Childs joined the General on the 
porch of the superintendent's house, the latter 
said: *Mr. Childs, while putting on my uniform, I 
could not help musing about our conversation in 
the Mess Hall. If you are in earnest about 
painting my portrait for the Academy, I want to 
be painted from life.' 

'**I am in earnest,' replied Mr. Childs. *The 
portrait shall be painted, upon one condition — it 
must please Mrs. Sheridan. I think it would be 
a good idea to paint Sherman also, and to hang 
him on the one side of Grant and you on the 
other.' 



284 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

"'That certainly would be a generous act upon 
your part,' said Sheridan, 'and one which would 
be appreciated by Sherman and myself. I would 
rather have you do this service than any other 
man, because no one could do it with so much 
propriety. The relations between Grant and 
you were bound by strong ties of mutual affec- 
tion. Those between you, Sherman, and myself 
have been most intimate. We have all been 
guests at the same time, and many times, at your 
house. You have come to know us better than 
other men know us. Grant, Sherman, and my- 
self were closely connected with the suppression 
of the rebellion. United thus in our lives, we 
should be placed together here, returned as it 
were to the Academy from which we started 
out in the morninor of life as second lieutenants. 
Associated as you have been with us, you are the 
very man to keep us united after death.' 

"'All right, General,' said Mr. Childs. 'The 
portraits shall be painted and hung in the Mess 
Hall. Now select your artist.* 

"When Mr. Childs spoke to General Sheridan 
in the Mess Hall about painting his portrait, the 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 285 

latter did not think that Mr. Childs was serious. 
I happen to know that Mr. Childs formed the 
determination to add the portraits of Sherman 
and Sheridan to his contribution prior to his visit 
to the Academy, and informed General Sheridan 
of this fact upon his return to Washington from 
West Point durlnof a conversation in which he re- 
lated to me what I have stated touching the con- 
versation with Mr. Childs at West Point, and also 
the conversation between Childs, Sheridan, and 
Sherman In relation to painting a portrait of the 
General last named. 

"Shortly after the conversation between Childs 
and Sheridan, on the porch of the superintend- 
ent's house, the battalion was formed on the 
parade-ground. General Sheridan, accompanied 
by the superintendent and staff and the bo^rd of 
visitors, had passed down the front and up the rear 
of the battalion, and had taken his place at the 
point designated for the reviewing officer, when 
General Sherman rode up from Cranston's Hotel, 
located about a mile south of the reservation. 
Sherman remained in his carriage, which was 
drawn up in front of the parade-ground and di- 



286 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAK 

rectly in rear of the reviewing officer. As the corps 
passed in common, and subsequently in double 
time, Sherman stood up and watched, with old time 
eagerness and pride, the columns of gray and white 
until they wdieeled into a fauldess line, tendered 
the final salute to the reviewing officer, heard the 
cadet adjutant announce 'parade is dismissed/ 
and saw the companies move, to lively music, from 
the parade-ground to the cadet barracks. Then 
he alighted from the carriage, pushed through the 
crowd that always fringes the parade-ground 
upon occasions of parade and review, and joined 
Sheridan and the other officials who still lingered 
on the ei'ound. When the usual salutations and 
introductions had been concluded, Sheridan drew 
Sherman and Childs apart from the crowd and 
said: 'Sherman, Mr. Childs informs me that he 
intends to have portraits of you and me painted, 
to hang beside that of General Grant in the Mess 
Hall. He proposes to wait until we die, but I 
insisted that the paintings be made before we die, 
so we may see how that artist executes us. He 
has agreed to do this, and I told him he is the one 
man who can and should do it.' " 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 287 



BY GENERAL O. O. HOWARD, 

WHO I^ED THE RIGHT WING ON THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 

XJO MAN Is better able to give an accurate es- 
timate of General Sherman as a soldier and 
a citizen than Major-General O. O. Howard, now 
in command of the Division of the Atlantic. He 
was not only General Sherman's right-hand com- 
mander during the historical march to the sea, 
but he served with him in many other campaigns, 
saw him under fire as a resourceful leader extri- 
cating his command from many a perilous situa- 
tion and in every other position that could test 
his qualities as a general. Besides, General 
Howard had been his warm and close friend be- 
fore the war and continued In that relation until 
General Sherman's death. They started out in 
their military careers almost together, and it so 
happened that in their services during the civil 
war they w^ere more often thrown together than 
any other two commanders of note In the army : 



288 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

" My Intimate associations with General Sher- 
man for so many years In so many situations of 
danger and hardship made me look upon him 
as much more than a friend. 

*' I had a feeling of tenderness toward him 
almost filial. He was my adviser and support 
in a good many anxious hours. I never found 
him other than a wise counselor and true, kind- 
hearted friend. 

" He was twelve years older than I when we 
went west together, and he got his brigade before 
I did, which was right and proper; but we were 
together during almost the whole course of the 
war. He had been in the South, thoroughly 
understood the plans of the Confederate States, 
and, having a capacious mind, took in the whole 
situation at the beginning. His long military 
experience, with these advantages, made him of 
invaluable service to his country from the begin- 
ninor of hostilities. 

o 

HIS EARLIER SERVICES. 

" His career began as the Colonel of the Thir- 
teenth Infantry in the Army of the Potomac 




GENERAL OLIVER O. HOWARD, 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 289 

under McDowell. When he was sent west after 
the first campaign, it was really to take com- 
mand of our forces there, and his rise in prom- 
inence being very rapid by reason of his admira- 
ble work did not beget in early days the confi- 
dence in him that was felt later. His prophecies, 
though abundantly justified and always sustained 
by the event, did not accord exactly with the 
views of the situation then held by others, and it 
was not until the correctness of his judgment had 
been proved many times that the full measure of 
his sagacity and foresight began to be realized. 

'' My own associated service with him may be 
said to have begun with the Chattanooga campaign. 
I was with him at Chattanooga, Knoxville and the 
rest of the hard-fou^rht battles in that rcQ^ion. I 
went with him to Atlanta, and returned to- 
ward the North when we detached a division to 
chase Hood. I was with him aofain when he 
started from Atlanta to the sea, and had com- 
mand of the right wing, as General Slocum had« 
of the left wing, of his army on the whole of that 
celebrated march. And so on to Bentonville and 

the end of the war and to Washington. 
19 



290 LIFE OF GEAERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

" Not only was I closely associated with him 
In the field during his great achievement, meet- 
ing him every day at his quarters and seeing him 
under every variety of vicissitude that can befall 
a soldier, but after the war he maintained a warm 
interest in my welfare. When I was at the head 
of the Freedman's Bank he continually advised 
and supported me, and made me feel his friend- 
ship in more ways than I can tell. I served 
under him again when I was in command in the 
Northwest, and he was General of the Army 
during the years when the Indian wars were 
going on in my division. So you may imagine 
the strength of the feeling of obligation and 
affection I entertained for him, as well as my 
opportunities to judge of his personal character. 

HIS MILITARY GENIUS. 

"As a military leader he was, in my judgment, 
one of the greatest that ever lived, and the only 
General in the war who was -a genius. Genius 
generally has abnormal development in some 
direction or another, and being stronger here is 
not so strong there. While, taken all in all. Grant 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 291 

was the greatest leader of the war, Sherman 
was a General of more extraordinary abilities 
in some directions. He was not only quick in 
forming his designs, but his mind seemed to take 
in the whole field with wonderful grasp. It was 
as if the whole country was mapped out on his 
capacious brain. • 

"Sherman's knowledge of military history, 
comprlslrtg the whole record of war and sur- 
passing in minuteness that of almost any other 
man alive, was a great source of strength to 
him. But his naturally resourceful mind would 
have made him a memorable strategist in any 
event. He had not only the power of arranging 
his troops in the way to give them the greatest 
advantage, but of so manoeuvering them as to 
force the enemy into just the position in which 
he wanted them — obviously a great test of 
strategic ability, He was quick to see and take 
advantage of his enemy's errors, which Is another 
test of the same -sort. While, like Napoleon, he 
managed to mass larger forces in front of his 
enemy than was opposed to him, this merely de- 
monstrates his superior tactics. 



292 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

" Strategy was his strongest point. Take him 
in battle and he did not seem to me to be the 
equal of Thomas or Grant. 

HIS FRIENDSHIP FOR GRANT. 

** Grant and Sherman were, In fact, co-ordi- 
nate. One was necessai^ to the other. The 
friendship between them, by the way, was one of 
the most interesting incidents of the war. They 
were like David and Jonathan. Their relations 
continued to be close and tender until General 
Grant's death. 

" As a commander no man could wish to 
serve under a better or more considerate gen- 
eral than Sherman. He was kind, consider- 
ate, appreciative and quick to commend. 
Hardship was a pleasure to any one who 
served under him. I have seen commanders 
under whom hardship was plain hardship. But 
Sherman had that largeness of soul and freedom 
from small motives characteristic of Thomas and 
other really great leaders. He differed much 
from Thomas, however. In that he was much 
more excitable. He was of the sort that would 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES, 293 

throw his hat in the air at a great triumph, sus- 
ceptible to emotions and for that reason open to 
more intense feelings of resentment against 
wrong. 

FATHER TO HIS GENERALS. 

" Of the generals who served under him he 
often spoke in the kindest way during and after 
the war. He had for them the affection of a 
father for his children. General Slocum he con- 
sidered one of the best soldiers and best men 
that ever lived. He would not hear a word 
against him. General Schofield, now in com- 
mand of the army, he considered another admir- 
able leader. These sub-generals were in fact 
just what Sherman needed. He inspired them 
with his own splendid animation and energy and 
lifted them up by his very presence. There was 
something about him so magnetic that they said 
they could feel his influence before they could see 
him. 

"Take him all in all. General Sherman was 
not only one of the greatest military geniuses in 
history, but a model of a kindly, generous and 
faithful man in every position in life. 



294 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

"Perhaps the most remarkable quality of Sher- 
man's mental make-up was his marvelous mem- 
ory; probably at the close of the war he could call 
5,000 officers by name. He had learned rapidly 
from youth to manhood, and he appeared to have 
forgotten nothinof that he had ever learned. His 
Quartermaster, Easton, went to him for the solu- 
tion of transportation problems as to a written 
authority. In ten minutes he would demonstrate 
to his chief commissary the number of rations that 
would support his different armies for a week or 
a month. He was apparently abreast of the great 
engineer, Granville M. Dodge, in train-running, 
bridore-buildine, and railroad construction. He 
was a little ahead of the Confederate Hood in all 
his quick correspondence, involving the laws of 
war and of nations, and whenever General Blair 
and myself came to him to decide between us on 
some historical point, awakened by our proximity 
In the Carollnas to an old Revolutionary battle- 
field, Sherman had it at his tongue's end, and 
whatever the difference, we happily bowed to his 
decision. This Indicates fundamental acquire- 
ment and extraordinary memory." 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 295 



BY MR. HIRAM HITCHCOCK. 

FIFTH AVFNUF HOTEI., NFW YORK. 

r^ ENERAL SHERMAN was a guest of this 
house off and on for many years, and as 
such he naturally became very much beloved 
by our whole household. After General 
Grant's funeral was over, I spent the evening 
with General Sherman, and he told me of his 
plans for the future, that he wanted to move 
quietly from St. Louis and locate in New York. 
He said that he thought he should enjoy New 
York very much, and his youngest son was 
then finishing his course at Yale, and the change 
would bring him near to New Haven. After 
that the General arranged by correspondence for 
his rooms on the parlor floor, Twenty-fifth street 
side. He came here with Mrs. Sherman and the 
daughters, and the youngest son used to come in 
frequently from Yale. At his first after-dinner 
speech in New York — that at the New England 



296 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

Society dinner — General Sherman referred to 
having moved to New York, and said that he had 
gone into winter-quarters down at the Fifth Ave- 
nue Hotel, where there was good grass and 
water. 

"The General was very particular to have every- 
thlnof arranored to suit Mrs. Sherman. He said that 
as to himself it did not make much difference. He 
was used to roughing it, and he could take anything, 
but he wanted Mrs. Sherman to be very nicely fixed 
and to have things to her own mind. On the other 
hand, Mrs. Sherman said to me; *It doesn't make 
so very much difference about me, but I wish to 
have the General comfortable. Dear old fellow, 
he has seen a great deal of roughing it, and I 
want him to be entirely at ease.' They were very 
happy and comfortable here during their two 
years' stay, which began on September i, 1886, 
and General Sherman's Idea of having a house 
was mainly to make it pleasanter and more agree- 
able, if possible, for Mrs. Sherman and the daugh- 
ters ; to give Mrs. Sherman a litde more quiet 
than she could have at a hotel, although she lived 
very quietly here. 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 297 

" During the General's residence here he was, 
of course, a conspicuous figure. He was always 
genial and affable to every one, very easily ap- 
proached, and he received and entertained a great 
many of his old Army companions and aided 
a vast number of them. In fact, no one knows 
how many Army men Gen. Sherman has first and 
last assisted pecuniarily and In various ways, help- 
ing them to get positions and giving them advice 
and encouragement. He used to meet hosts of 
friends and acquaintances in the hotel. I remem- 
ber his saying once that he would have to stop 
shaking hands, for he had lost one nail, and if he 
didn't quit soon he would lose them all. If he 
went to the dining-room, people from different 
parts of the country who knew him would get up 
and go over to his table and talk to him. 

" It was a sort of a reception with him all the 
time^one continuous reception. He was very 
democratic in all his movements, and he always 
dined in the public room. 

"The General kept one room for a regular work- 
ing-room for himself There he had his desk, a 
large library, scrap-baskets, letter-files, etc., and 



298 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

that is where he was in the habit of receiving his 
friends. 

" As for the society side of his Hfe here, Miss 
Sherman and her father had regular weekly recep- 
tions durinor the season in the larcre drawinof-room. 

" General Sherman was exceedingly particular 
with reference to financial affairs. There never 
was a more honest man born than General Sher- 
man. He was particular to pay his bills of every 
sort in full and to pay them promptly. He could 
not bear to be in debt. It actually w^orried him 
to have a matter stand over for a day. He knew 
just exactly how his affairs stood every day, and 
he could not bear to owe a man anything for 
twenty-four hours. And he was just as honest 
and frank and faithful in speech and in every 
other element of his character. He carried his 
character right on the outside, and it was true blue. 

*' When he went to his house at No. 75 West 
Seventy-first street, we kept up our relations 
with him, and we would occasionally send up some 
litde thing to him. Soon after he moved we sent 
him a couple of packages, and in acknowledg- 
ment he sent us this letter: 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 299 

'* 75 West Seventy-first street, Sept. 28, 1888. 

Messrs. Hitchcock, Darling & Co., 

Fifth Avenue Hotel, N. Y. 

''Dear sirs: I am this moment In receipt of two 
boxes, the contents of which will, I am sure, be 
most acceptable to self and guests. With pro- 
found thanks for past favors, many and heavy, 
and a hearty wish* for your continued prosperity, 
I am and always shall be, your grateful debtor, 

♦^W. T. Sherman." 

"Whenever the old General would come. to this 
part of the city he would drop In. If he was 
going to the theatre he would call In before or 
after the performance — at all hours, in fact, he 
would come, and between his engagements. He 
used to sit In this office and chat. He was In 
this office just after Secretary WIndom's death, 
and was asklnor about that sad occurrence. The 
last time he was here was only a night or two before 
he was taken sick with the fatal cold which was 
the beoflnnlnof of his last Illness. I went to the 
door with him and bade him good-night, and he 
turned and said cheerily, 'Come up, Hitchcock, 
come up.' I said, 'I'll be up In a few days,' and 
off he moved In his quick way. 



300 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

"The General was, as everybody knows, a splen- 
did conversationalist. He had a w^onderful fund 
of anecdote, story and reminiscence, and was a 
capital story-teller. He was never at a loss for a 
ready reply. 

*' This was one of his comments on a story that 
he was not quite ready to believe. *Oh, well, you 
can tell that to the marines, bur don't tell it to an 
old soldier like me.' 

" I think there was one very striking peculiarity, 
about General Sherman. Of course we have 
seen it in different public men, but I think it may 
be said of Sherman fully as strongly as of any 
other public man either in military or civil life, 
that he was as brave as a lion and as gentle as 
a woman. When anything touched him it revealed 
the sympathy of his nature. He w^as wonder- 
fully kind-hearted. 

"If there was an uncompromising patriot any- 
where in the country it was General Sherman, and 
he manifested that in every walk of life, every 
expression, every look. He was a true hero. 
He was not only one of the great men, but one of 
the purest men of his time." 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 301 



BY ADMIRAL PORTER. 

A DMIRAL PORTER, In one of his books, gives 
a racy account of the meeting and a good 
portrait of Sherman. They had never before met. 
"Thinking," says the admiral, "that Sherman 
would be dressed in full feather, I put on my 
uniform coat, the splendor of which rivaled that 
of a drum major. Sherman, hearing that I was 
indifferent to appearances and generally dressed 
in working clothes, thought he would not annoy 
me by fixing up and so kept on his blue flannel 
suit, and we met, both a little surprised at the 
appearance of the other. 

" ' Halloo, Porter,' said the General. * I am 
glad to see you ; you got here sooner than I 
expected, but we'll get off to-night. (They were 
preparing for the second attack on Vicksburg.) 
Devilish cold, isn't it ? Sit down and warm up.' 
And he stirred up the coal in the grate. ' Here, 
Captain,' to one of his aides, ' tell General Blair to 



302 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

get his men on board at once. Tell the Quarter- 
master to report as soon as he has 600,000 rations 
embarked. Here Dick,' to his servant, 'put me 
up some shirts and underclothes in a bag, and 
don't bother me with a trunk and traps enough for 
a regiment. Here, Captain,', another aide, * tell 
the steamboat captain to have steam up at 6 
o'clock, and to lay in plenty of fuel, for I'm not 
going to stop every few hours to cut wood. Tell 
the officer in charge of embarkation to allow no 
picking and choosing of boats — the Generals in 
command must take what is given them — there, 
that will do. Glad to see you, Porter; how's 
Grant?'" 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 303 



^Y GENERAL HORACE PORTER. 

" T FIRST saw General Sherman a few weeks 
after he had entered Atlanta, when the lau- 
rels of its capture were fresh upon his brow. Af- 
ter he and General Grant had corresponded for 
more than a month as to the project of Sherman's 
cutting loose from his base and striking for some 
point on the coast, General Grant, after discussing 
with me his plans in great detail, designated me as 
the staff officer who was to visit General Sherman, 
communicate to him the contemplated movements 
of the armies in front of Richmond, the intended 
operations upon the sea-coast, including the prob- 
ability of an expedition for the capture of Wilming- 
ton, etc., and ascertain his views as to his move- 
ments beyond Atlanta under the various contingen- 
cies which might arise. Starting from City Point, I 
reached Atlanta on the morning of September i8, 
1864, and found the captor of that stronghold 
seated on the porch of a house which he was 



304 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

occupying as headquarters on Peach-tree 
Street. * 

*' My mind was naturally wrought up to a high 
pitch of curiosity to see this famous soldier of the 
West. He sat tilted back in a large chair reading 
a newspaper, his coat was unbuttoned, his hat 
slouched over his brow, and on his feet were a 
pair of slippers very much down at the heel. He 
was the perfection of physical health, in the prime 
of life, being just forty-four years of age, and 
almost at the summit of his military fame. With 
his wiry frame, tall gaunt form, restless hazel 
eyes, and crisp beard, he looked the picture of 
* grim-visaged war.' After he had read a letter 
with which General Grant had provided me, he 
entered at once upon an animated discussion of 
the military situation East and West, and as he 
waxed more intense in his manner the nervous 
energy of his nature soon began to manifest itself. 
He twisted the newspaper which he held into 
every possible geometrical shape, and from time 
to time he drew first one foot and then the other 
out of its slipper, and followed up the movement 
by shoving out Its leg so that his foot could 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 305 

recapture the slipper and thrust itself into it 
again. 

'' What Hood, who commanded the enemy, 
would do in case Sherman started from Atlanta 
for the sea was of course a blind surmise. His 
view was that if he could move without a large 
army to confront him at all points he could easily 
live off the country, go where it was deemed best, 
and inflict irreparable damage upon the Confed- 
eracy ; but if Hood confronted him, he (Sherman) 
would exhaust his provisions while fighting, and 
probably have to strike for the nearest point on 
the seaboard, and it would be highly important 
to have an abundant supply of provisions to meet 
him at the coast. He discussed the possibilities 
of the capturing of Savannah meanwhile, to serve 
as a base from which supplies could be sent 
up the Savannah River to meet him. 

" No one could help being profoundly impress- 
ed with the comprehensiveness of his grasp and 
the clearness of his views. His active and well- 
disciplined brain seemed to consider and provide 
in advance for every possible contingency that 

could arise in the doubtful fortunes of so vast a 
20 



306 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

campaign. I was authorized to assure him that 
General Grant would spare no effort to co-oper- 
ate with him to the fullest extent from the East, 
in the way of sending a fleet of commissary sup- 
plies, etc., to meet him as soon as it was known 
at what point he would be likely to reach the 
coast. His expressions as to his confidence in 
the certainty of his chief to make provision for 
him were as emphatic as the words written to 
that chief after the Vicksburg campaign: *I 
knew wherever I was that you thought of me, and 
if I got In a tight place, you would help me out If 
alive.' 

" It was agreed that the publications in South- 
ern newspapers — which we always received 
through the lines — the Information obtained from 
scouts, prisoners, deserters, and the * reliable 
contraband,' would give ample news of his where- 
abouts and his progress through the country. 
After a full discussion of the subject in all its 
bearings, he gave me just before leaving a letter 
addressed to General Grant to carry back to him, 
which closed as follows : ' I admire your dogged 
perseverance and pluck more than ever. If you 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 307 

can whip Lee and I can march to the Atlantic, I 
think Uncle Abe will give us a twenty days' leave 
of absence to see the young folks.' The record 
of the success of that march to the sea has since 
become one of'the most brilliant pages of Ameri- 
can history. 

" ' Not many years ago, while sitting beside the 
General at a banquet, the band struck up the air 
with which he was Invariably greeted upon public 
occasions, * As Sherman goes marching through 
Georgia.' He said : ' It seems that I am always 
to be known best as the commander of the march 
to the sea. I have never considered it by any 
means the most meritorious part of the work I 
was permitted to take a hand in during the war. 
I am to be sure deeply sensible of the value our 
people set upon It, but the battles and campaigns 
it fell to my lot to conduct previously were, I 
think, better tests of a soldier's abilities.' " 

" When he had reached Goldsborough, North 
Carolina, in the spring of 1865, it was thought 
advisable for him to visit General Grant's head- 
quarters at City Point, Virginia, for the purpose 
of a consultation. On the afternoon of March 



308 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

27th the Steamer which brought him was seen 
coming up the James River, and when it ap- 
proached the wharf General Grant started from 
his log hut on the bluff to greet his illustrious com- 
panion in arms. They met at the foot of the long 
flight of wooden steps which led down to the 
river. It was, ' Why, how d'ye do, Sherman ?' 
* How are you, Grant?' And then a cordial 
grasping of hands and more familiar terms of 
greeting, their manner being more like that of two 
school-boys encountering after a vacation than the 
meeting of the chief actors in the great tragedy 
of war. 

" To make the occasion still more interesting, 
President Lincoln and Admiral Porter were both 
at City Point. It was soon arranged that Grant, 
Sherman and Porter should call upon the Presi- 
dent, who was aboard the " River Queen," the 
steamer which had brought him down from Wash- 
ington. In the after-cabin of that vessel was held 
the conference between these magnates, the scene 
of which has been so faithfully transferred to 
canvas by the artist Healy. Sherman there gave 
a most graphic description of the stirring events 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES, 309 

of the march to the sea ; and afterward, in answer 
to eager inquiries from our staf^-officers who 
collected about him around the camp-fire, he 
related much of the story again. Never were 
listeners more enthusiastic ; never was a speaker 
more eloquent. 

''The story as he alone could tell It, was a grand 
epic related with Homeric power. Mr. Lincoln 
seemed very nervous and anxious lest something 
adverse might happen to Sherman's command in 
his absence, and as the General v/as as desirous 
as any one to return and push his operations in 
the field, he was given a swifter boat than the one 
which brought him, and started the next evening 
on his return. 

"A novel feature of Sherman's command was 
his * bummers.' They were not mere stragglers 
and self-constituted foragers, as many suppose, 
but were organized for a very useful purpose 
from the adventurous spirits which are always 
found in the ranks. They served as the * feelers,' 
who kept In advance of the main columns, spied 
out the land, discovered the well-filled granaries 
and tempting barn-yards on either fiank of the 



810 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

main columns. They were indispensable In sup- 
plying the troops, all of whom were compelled to 
live off the country, and in destroying the enemy's 
means of transportation and communication. The 
bummer was in fact a regular institution. 

^*As Sherman's army approached Goldsborough, 
a bummer who was a little more enterprising than 
the rest was found up a telegraph pole cutting the 
wires of one of our military telegraph lines run- 
ning out from Wilmington. A Union officer 
yelled at him : " What are you doing there ? 
You're cuttlno- one of our own wires.' The man 
cast an indignant look at the questioner, and said, 
as he continued his work, * I'm one o' Sherman's 
bummers, and the last thing he said to us was, 
" Be sure and cut all the telegraph wires you 
come across, and don't go to foolln' away time 
askin' who they belong to." ' 

" General Sherman, as a subordinate, gave his 
chiefs no trouble in the field that could be avoided. 
He accepted what troops and supplies the 
government was able to furnish him, and did the 
best he could with them without grumbling. Pie 
cheerfully employed the tools placed in his 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 311 

hands, and was satisfied. He never demanded 
what could not be given him. He was too much 
of* a philosopher to expect impossibilities. The 
General was always fond of talking with his men 
as they filed by him on the march. As Napoleon 
enjoyed chatting with the old moustaches of his 
guard, so Sherman loved to have a familiar word 
with his veterans. One day a soldier had taken 
off his shoes and stockings, and rolled up his 
trousers to wade across a creek. As the General 
rode by he was attracted by the magnificent speci- 
men of nether limbs exposed to view, which 
might have served as models for a classic sculp- 
tor. 

" * A good, stout pair of legs you've got there, 
my man,' cried Sherman. 

" ' Yes, General, they're not bad underpinning,* 
replied the soldier. 

"'I wouldn't mind changing mine for them, if 
you don't object,' added Sherman. 

The man looked at his commander's legs, 
which appeared rather thin in comparison, then 
at his own, and finally said, 'General, I guess we 
can't make a swap.' 



312 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

" If General Sherman manifested at times 
something of the irritablHty of a Hotspur, and, 
like the soldier In the 'Seven Ages,' was 'jeal- 
ous In honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,' it 
was because he possessed a sensitive nature, was 
conscious of the honesty of his purposes, and 
could not brook misrepresentation and affront. 
When he was given a command In Kentucky, he 
saw with his keen military foresight that the pro- 
visions made for troops were grossly inadequate 
for the work before them, and declared that Ken- 
tucky ought to have at once 60,000 men, and that 
it would require 200,000 to suppress 4:he rebellion 
in that region. He urged his views with such 
persistency, and resented the harsh cridclsms 
made upon him with such vigor, that he was called 
a crank, and charged with being insane, and finally 
deprived of his command. Subsequent events 
proved him to be a true prophet. 

"Immediately after the surrender of Lee, Sher- 
man entered into a correspondence in perfect 
good faith with General Joseph E. Johnston, the 
commander of the forces confronting him, for the 
purpose of bringing about immediate peace, and 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 313 

made a memorandum of agreement, which In- 
cluded In the terms of capitulation all the Con- 
federate troops remaining In the field. It an- 
nounced in general terms that the war was to 
cease, a general amnesty was to be granted, as 
far as the Executive of the United States could 
command it, on condition of the disbandment of 
the Confederate army, and provided for the dis- 
tribution of arms and the resumption of peaceful 
pursuits by the officers and men heretofore com- 
posing said armies ; but it was distinctly stipulated 
that as the two Generals who signed the agree- 
ment were not empowered by their principals to 
fulfill the terms, they could only pledge them- 
selves to promptly obtain authority, and to en- 
deavor to carry out the programme as arranged. 
With Sherman It was an honest effort on the part 
of a humane commander to try aud put an end 
to the war at once. 

*• When this paper was forwarded to Washing- 
ton, it reached there just after the assassination 
of Mr. Lincoln, when public feeling was every- 
where intensely excited. 

" The Secretary of War at once repudiated the 



314 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

terms, rebuked and censured Sherman In a pub- 
lished communication, charging him with exceed- 
ing his authority, impeaching his motives, and 
putting forth insinuations which were calculated 
to incense any one who had a proper regard for 
his reputation. 

"Sherman felt that his feelings had been out- 
racred, not because his ao^reement had been dis- 
approved, but on account of the offensive nature 
of the public rebuke. 

" He soon after entered Washinofton at the head 
of his army, receiving a greeting from the popu- 
lace which might have ranked with the triumph 
of a Roman conqueror. There he met Secre- 
tary Stanton, but smarting under a sense of in- 
sult, he refused to give him his hand, and turned 
his back upon him. But notwithstanding the bit- 
terness of his resentment at the time, he and Mr. 
Stanton became fully reconciled before the latter's 
death. 

" His writings were as graphic as Caesar's Com- 
mentaries. There was in his compositions an el- 
gance of diction seldom found except in the 
works of professional authors. He has contrib- 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 315 

uted some of the finest specimens of rhetoric to 
be found in modern books. In his description of 
the departure of the troops from Adanta, given 
in his memoirs, his style rises to the subUme. 

^*As a speaker the same qualidesof style may 
be observed in his more serious efforts. For 
instance, his reference to the flag in an address 
made at a banquet to the veterans : 

" The prayer that every soldier ought to breathe 
is that yonder flag should be above him in life, 
around him in death. What is thatfla^^? A bit of 
bunting, a bauble, a toy. You can buy it for a 
few shillings in the nearest store. But once raise 
it as your standard, and millions will follow It and 
die under it. Insult it, and a whole nation of 
patriots will rise up in its defence, and you will 
And behind it all the power that can be wielded by 
the republic' 

" The General often fell into a jocose strain. 
Then there was a relaxing of the stern features, 
a merry twinkle of the eye, and a display of wit 
and humor that * set the table in a roar.' 

" At a meeting in support of the Actors' Fund of 
America, held in Palmer's Theatre in June last, 



316 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

the General being called out, stepped to the 
front of the stage, and began by saying : ' I con- 
fess I feel strange up here in such a presence. If 
the gentleman who has my favorite seat in the 
orchestra will kindly give it up and come up here 
and take my place, I will cheerfully g(f to the box 
office and pay $1.50 for my old seat.' Afterward 
he astonished the audience by the statement that 
the theatrical profession ought to feel indebted to 
him because he had once saved Joe Jefferson's 
life ; and then went on to say : ' Joe Jefferson 
called on me at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and after 
he had left I saw a roll of paper under the chair 
he had occupied. I ran after him and cried, 
'*Joe, did you drop this roll of paper?" He 
turned to me with a look full of joy. " My God, 
Sherman, you have saved my life ! " "What do 
you mean ? How have I saved your life ? " " Why," 
replied Jefferson, with that familiar twinkle in his 
eye, *' I am publishing my life, and that is the first 
chapter.' " 

" After having listened to nearly all of General 
Sherman's speeches during the last six years, I 
have no hesitation in ranking him second to no one 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES, 817 

as an after dinner speaker. While the prestige of 
his illustrious name intensified the interest felt in 
what he said, yet I believe that if he had appeared 
at any banquet unheralded and unknown, and 
delivered one of his characteristic addresses, it 
would have been conceded that his speech Vv^as 
the hit of the evenlnor. He had the art of beo-In- 
ning with some epigrammatic sentence or humor- 
ous allusion to some current topic, spoken in away 
which at once secured the attention of the 
audience. He mingled wit and pathos in a happy 
blending which appealed to all minds and touched 
all hearts. As eloquence is only another name 
for earnestness, his serious utterances had all the 
power of the finest oratory. Pie leaned forward, 
gesticulated forcibly with his long right arm, 
looked his hearers full in the eyes, and seemed to 
be speaking into the particular ears of each indi- 
vidual before him. As a talker he deserved to be 
ranked among the great conversers of history, 
and, unlike many gifted conversationalists, he 
possessed the rare faculty of being a good listener. 
Even in the midst of one of his most animated 
recitals, if some one interrupted him to add a 



318 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

remark, he would stop, look at him good-naturedly, 
and nod approval. His lips, too, would often 
move in unison with the speaker's, as if ' marking 
time' to the music of his words. 

"The General's education at WestPoint, which 
taught drawing and painting, gave him a knowl- 
edge of proportion and coloring, and cultivated a 
taste for art which created in him a great fondness 
for pictures and sculpture. This was largely 
increased by the opportunities he enjoyed in after 
years in his visit to the art centres of foreign 
lands. His criticisms on art were very positive 
and decided. 1 was much amused one day, when 
talking to General Grant while a sculptor was 
modeling his bust in clay, to see General Sher- 
man come into the room and begin a vigorous 
discussion with the artist as to the truthfulness of 
the resemblance. In his nervous, off-hand, rattling 
manner, he criticised one feature after another, 
insisting on a little more prominence here and a 
little less thsre, and running his fingers over por- 
tions of the moist clay to put his suggestions into 
effect. Finally, in his enthusiasm, he actually 
seized a tool out of the artist's hand, and was 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 319 

about to scrape off what he deemed a too prom- 
inent projection of the cheek, when the terrified 
artist, upon whose face the cold perspiration had 
broken out, stayed the hand of the ruthless 
amateuV, and brought him to such a realizing 
sense of the comicality of the scene that he joined 
heartily in the laugh which followed. 

"The last farewells have now been spoken, the 
laurel which crowned the hero's brow is inter- 
twined with the cypress, the flag he had so 
often upheld has dropped to half-mast, the boom- 
ing of his guns has given place to the tolling of 
cathedral bells, and American hearts are op- 
pressed with a sense of sadness which is akin to 
the sorrow of a personal bereavement." 



320 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 



SHERMAN AND THE EDITORS * 

t 
A /TR. H. L. PRIDDY, an old time Memphis 
journalist, is one of the men who regret 
the death of General Sherman. He and D. A. 
Brower, now editor of the Little Rock Gazette, 
were publishing the Argits in Memphis during 
the time that General Sherman was in command 
there, and they had several rather exciting expe- 
riences with him. 

Mr. Priddy says of him : " He was a sure 
enough soldier and a gentleman ; knew how to 
treat the people, what favors to extend, and where 
to draw the line. The Aj^gus was the only paper 
published in Memphis then. The Appeal was 
scurrying over the country in a box car avoiding 
the Yankees. Brower and I had to simulate a 
degree of loyalty, but whenever we got a chance 
we cheered the stars and bars. 

"General Sherman gave us considerable lati- 

* From the New Orleans Times- Union. 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 321 

tude, but we finally went too far, and he called 
us down. He did it in a gentlemanly, sociable 
way, however, that didn't wound our feelings. He 
galloped up to the office one day at noon, threw 
the bridle rein of his big black stallion to an 
orderly, and strode into the editorial room. A 
crowd of citizens gathered on the other side of the 
street and mourned for the fate of the newspaper 
and the editors. I think they had an idea that 
Sherman was going to amputate our heads and 
all the forms, but he didn't. He sat down and rest- 
ing his feet on the table, said : * Boys [we were 
both youngsters], I have been ordered to suppress 
your paper, but I don't like to do. that. I just 
dropped in to warn you not to be so free with 
your pencils. If you don't ease up, you'll get in 
trouble.' 

" We promised to reform, and as the General 
seemed so pleasant and friendly, I asked him if he 
couldn't do something to increase the circulation 
of currency. There was no small change, and we 
had to use soda-water checks issued by a confec- 
tioner named Lane. We dropped soda-water 

checks in the contribution box at church, paid for 
21 



322 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

Straight whiskey with them, and received them for 
money. If Lane had closed his shop the checks 
would have been worthless. 

" General Sherman comprehended the situation 
and quick as a flash said : * You need a medium 
of exchange that has an intrinsic value. Cotton 
is king here. Make cotton your currency. It is 
worth ^i a pound. Make packages containing eight 
ounces represent 50cents, four ounces 25 cents, and 
so on. Cotton Is the wealth of the South right now. 
Turn It into money.' ' But the money-drawers 
would not hold such bulky currency,' said I. 
'Make 'em larger,' said the General, and with that 
he strode off As he mounted his horse and 
galloped away he shook his whip at Brower and 
me and shouted : ' You boys had better be care- 
ful what you write or I will be down on you.'" 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 323 



BY HON. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW. 

^'/^ENERAL SHERMAN, after he came to 
New York, was at once the most distin- 
guished and deHghtful figure in our metropohtan 
society. He seemed to have a most elastic 
constitution, and endured an amount of social 
obHgation which would have tired out and used 
up many a younger and stronger man. He 
loved to be in the company of men and women. 
I think he dined out every night of his life, and 
very often he would be found at late suppers, 
especially theatrical suppers. 

" He is, easily, at any table, at the head where- 
ever he sits, and has a wonderful faculty for 
entertaining conversation. No person ever heard 
him say a disagreeable thing. With the most 
positive, pronounced and aggressive opinions on 
all questions, and never concealing them, he so 
states them as never to offend an adversary. 
His attention to ladles is a most delightful 



324 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

exhibition of knightly and soldierly courtesy. 
There Is in his manner and speech something 
of deference, respect and admiration, which 
conveys a more signal compliment than can be 
wrought In phrase or flattery. At a night sup- 
per where the guests were mostly theatrical 
people he was in his joyous hilarity like a boy. 
In the speech which he invariably made there 
was much of the fatherly feeling of an old man 
rejoicing in the artistic success of his auditors, 
and to those who deserved it, whether actors or 
actresses, a neatly turned compliment which 
expressed all that a trained dramatic critic could 
say, and became in the recollection of the happy 
recipient the best memory of his or her life. 

*' I have been with him at hundreds of public 
dinners, and in studying close his mental methods 
and habits of speech, have come to regard 
him as the readiest and most orlorlnal talker in 
the United States. I don't believe that he ever 
made the slightest preparation, but he absorbed, 
apparently while thinking and while carrying on a 
miscellaneous conversation with those about him^ 
the spirit of the occasion, and his speech, when he 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 326 

finished, seemed to be as much of a surprise to 
himself as it was to the audience, and the work 
of a superior and exceedingly active intelligence 
which included him as well as the rest among its 
auditors. 

' " Most men, and I have met several, who had 
this faculty, were cans of dynamite, whose ex- 
plosion was almost certain to produce most 
disastrous results. But General Sherman rarely 
failed in striking out a line of thought different 
from and more original than any other speaker, 
and in sometimes giving utterance to the boldest 
thought, yet always in harmony with the oc- 
casion. 

" I recall the last two times that I met him as 
especially significant of his conversational talent 
and power of public speech on a sudden call. I 
sat near him at the dinner given in his honor by 
ex-Chief Justice Daley about one month ago. 
General Sherman rarely talked about himself, but 
on this occasion he became reminiscent and 
entertained us for more than an hour with free- 
hand sketches of his adventures on the plains in 
early years, and of the original people whom he 



S26 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

met among the early settlers. These recol- 
lections, if taken down at the moment, would 
have proved an invaluable contribution to the 
history of the period covering the growth of 
transportation on the plains, from the wagon to 
the railroad, and the story of the bold and ad- 
venturous spirits who were the pioneers of West- 
ern civilization, maijy of whom he knew per- 
sonally. 

" The last time I met him he promised, after 
a dinner to which he was engaged, to do me the 
favor, though he said It was asking a good deal at 
his time of life, to come to the Yale Alumni 
Association dinner and say a word to the guests. 
His appearance'there about half-past eleven was an 
event which the Alumni of Yale who were pres- 
ent, most of whom were young men who had 
never seen him before, will remember as long as 
they live. 

" I have felt for many years that In the interests 
of the period during which he was one of the 
most conspicuous actors, arid with one exception 
the most conspicuous, that he always ought to 
have been accompanied by a stenographer. 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 327 

" I have known most of the men who have 
been famous in the country, In every walk in life, 
in the last twenty-five years sufficiently well to 
hear them frequently talk in a free and confiden- 
tial way. General Sherman was one of the few 
who never bore you, whose conversation is 
always interesting, and no matter how long he 
talked, he leaves you hungry and eager for more. 
I was with him at the time I delivered the oration 
before the Army of the Potomac at Saratoga. I 
was with him from ten o'clock in the mornlnor 
until six In the afternoon, and he talked without 
cessation for the whole period. It was a test few 
men could have stood, and the three others who 
were with him in the carriage only regretted that 
the day was limited by the light. 

"General Sherman lived so much in the full 
blaze of publicity that there is little which can be 
added to the story of his life except the personal 
Incidents he was accustomed to narrate In con- 
versations with his friends, which shed a strong 
light, upon the history of the times in which he 
was such a prominent actor. He was the only 
man I ever met who I thought could have not 



328 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

only survived but had his fame increased by the 
constant attendance of a Boswell. 

"A story he told me in reference to the famous 
campaign from Atlanta to the sea would seem by 
indirect evidence to settle the vexed question as 
to who planned that great campaign. Sherman's 
loyalty to his superior officers and to the Presi- 
dent was such that he never publicly made any 
claims in regard to any of his movements for him- 
self. He said that he had been fairly importuning 
the President, the Secretary of War and General 
Grant to permit him to swing loose from his base 
of operations, and march across the country to 
the Atlantic. He believed that there was no 
enemy before him strong enough to resist an 
army as large and perfectly disciplined as that 
which he commanded. He also felt assured that 
by sweeping through that country he would cut 
off the food and forage which supported the 
armies of Johnston and of Lee. Mr. Lincoln 
was afraid he would lose his army. Stanton had 
little or no faith in the movement, and while Grant 
believed that Sherman was right, the staff in- 
fluences about him were hostile to General Sher- 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 320 

man. One day, however, Sherman received a 
telegram from Mr. Lincoln and one from Secre- 
tary Stanton which substantially gave him discre- 
tion. He instantly sent an officer and a detach- 
ment of cavalry with orders to tear down the 
wires for fifty miles between Atlanta and Wash- 
ington. He said that long after the war he 
discovered that an effort was made to countermand 
the march, but the officer reported that the rebels 
had cut the communications. 

"He told me an interesting story about a prom- 
inent citizen of Savannah who came to his head- 
quarters after he had captured that city. The 
gentleman was in great trepidation and informed 
the General that he had some valuable pictures in 
his house. The General said they were entirely 
safe. He said h^ also had a collection of family 
plate of great intrinsic value, and, on account of 
its associations, very precious to him and his 
family. The General told him he would put a 
guard about his house If necessary. Then, in a 
burst of frank confidence, produced by this gener- 
ous response to his fears, he revealed to General 
Sherman that he had buried In his back-yard a 



330 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

large quantity of priceless Madeira, of the oldest 
and rarest vintages, and estimated to be worth 
over ^40,000 before the war. The General re- 
sponded at once, 'That is medicine, and confis- 
cated to the hospital.' What the hospital did not 
need he distributed among the troops. But much 
marching and fighting had produced in the boys 
an appetite more vigorous than that which recog- 
nizes the bouquet of 1815 Madeira at a New- 
York club or dinner-table, and they willingly 
exchanored a bottle of Madeira for a criH of 

o o 

whiskey. 

"General Sherman was fully informed of the 
movements of Jefferson Davis, and in a position 
to put his hand upon and arrest him at almost 
any time after Davis left Richmond. He consulted 
Mr. Lincoln as to what he would better do, saying 
to the President that he did not know but what 
he, the President, would be relieved by not having 
the President of the Southern Confederacy on 
his hands, and asking for instructions. President 
Lincoln's instructions were given in this form: 
'Sherman, many years ago, up in Illinois, I knew a 
temperance lecturer who had been an habitual 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 331 

drunkard. He met on an anniversary occasion a 
number of his old boon companions. They were 
urging him to celebrate It with them In the usual 
way, and he finally said: 'Boys, I must stick to my 
principles, but If you could get some whiskey into 
my water unbeknownst to me I might join you!' 

"The General after that made no effort to cap- 
ture Jefferson Davis, and regretted that he did 
not reach the schooner in which he was intending 
an escape to Cuba, because once out of the coun- 
try he never could have returned, and when 
arrested the difficulty which Mr. Lincoln had antic- 
ipated arose, and the situation was only solved 
by Horace Greeley becoming his bondsman. 

"The General told me another interesting story 
of Mr. Lincoln, which brings out In a very clear 
light the humanity which was the dominating ele- 
ment of his character. After Sherman had 
reached the boundary line between North Caro- 
lina and Virginia his army was spread out over 
the railway and roads leading from Richmond 
south. The General said to the President that 
there were two ways open for his army — one to 
remain where It was and compel the surrender of 



332 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

Lee's forces, after Grant had driven them out of 
Richmond, by cutting off their suppHes and means 
of escape; the other to join General Grant and 
crush the Confederate forces at once. Lincoln's 
answer was decisive and peremptory: 'Take the 
course which will shed the least blood.' 

"I heard General Sherman once narrate a very 
striking battle incident. He had rallied his troops 
and led them to a charge which was everywhere 
successful. As he rode into the enemy's camp, he 
saw a soldier lying on a barrow and an officer 
standing over him with an uplifted knife. He 
shouted to the officer not to strike, and spurred 
up to the group to discover that the men were 
both dead; the only solution being that the offi- 
cer, who was a surgeon, was in the act of per- 
forming an operation for the extraction of a bullet 
upon the soldier when the concussion of a cannon- 
ball passing near them had killed them both, and 
they had stiffened In the attitude they occupied at 
the moment when their lives went out. 

"As General Sherman was riding one day with 
his staff on the march through Georgia, they came 
upon an old planter sitting upon his front piazza, 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 333 

and they rode in for a drink of water. The old 
gentleman said: 'General, I saw on one of the 
regimental flags, the looth Iowa. The last I 
heard of Iowa it was an uninhabited territory. 
Has that got a hundred regiments of i,ooq men 
each in your army now?' 

"'Yes.' 

"'Well, said the old planter, 'if Iowa has got 
lOO regiments in your army and the rest of your 
States have sent regiments in proportion, you 
must have more than a million. We better give 
up at once.' " 



834 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 



BY PRESIDENT HARRISON.* 

^ I ^HE death of William Tecumseh Sherman, is 
an event that will bring sorrow to the heart 
of every patriotic citizen. No living American 
was so loved and venerated as he. To look upon 
his face, to hear his name, was to have one's love 
of country intensified. He served his country not 
for fame, not out of a sense of professional duty, 
but for love of the flag and of the beneficent civil 
institutions of which it was the emblem. 

" He was an ideal soldier, and shared to the 
fullest the esprii du corps of the army, but he 
cherished the civil institutions organized under the 
Constitution, and was only a soldier that these 
might be perpetuated in undiminished usefulness 
and honor. He was in nothing an imitator. A 

* In response to our letter to President Harrison to furnish a 
contribution for this book, he writes that it would be a labor of love 
for him to do so, but on account of pressing public duties it would 
be impossible. But he sends us the tribute above. 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 335 

profound student of military science and pre- 
cedent, he drew fronj them principles and sugges- 
tions and so adapted them to novel conditions 
that his campaigns will continue to be the 
profitable study of the military profession through- 
out the world. His genial nature made him 
comrade to every soldier of the great Union 
Army. No presence was so welcome and inspir- 
ing at the camp fire or commandery as his. His 
career was complete ; his honors were full. 
He had received from the Government the 
highest rank known to our military establishment, 
and from the people unstinted gratitude and 
love." 



336 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 



BY REV. T. DEWITT TALMAGE, D.D. 

'' ' I "HE century had no grander soul to surrender 
into the eternities than the one who yester- 
day sped away from us, Frank, honest, brilliant 
gallant, patriotic William T. Sherman ! 

" I thank God that I ever knew him, that I ever 
felt the hearty grip of his right hand and had the 
friendship of his great big heart. I have no 
interest In the question being agitated as to 
whether he was Protestant or Catholic. I heard 
his profession of faith on a memorable occasion 
and under peculiar circumstances. In New York, 
at the New England Society dinner three years 
ago, I sat with him four hours. He on one side 
and the immortal and lamented Henry W. Grady, 
of Georgia, on the other. We were all to make 
addresses, but there was time for a conversation 
that will be precious while memory lasts. There 
and then, while the merriment of the occasion 
filled the air, he expressed to me his respect for 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 337 

the religion which his now ascended wife had 
embraced, and his own faith in God and his confi- 
dence for die future. 

" Simple as a child, brave as a lion, sympathetic 
as a woman, firm as a rock, wrathful as a tempest 
when aroused against wrong, lovely as a June 
morning among his friends — how can we give him 
up ? But God knows best." 



22 



338 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 



BY COIvONEIv GEORGE A. KNIGHT. 

XTOT many days ago our drooping banner sor- 
row fully reminded us diat die king was dead. 
Wldiin a few hundred feet of this spot royalty 
was stricken by the hand of death. It was some- 
thing uncommon in a country like ours, founded 
upon principles that hardly knew what royalty 
meant, and yet within the education of our people 
we found the spirit of community and that fealty 
to the law of nations that told us intuitively that 
we should deal with the dead monarch in a spirit 
that became us as a people, and the swift-keeled 
messenger from our navy carried to the inviting 
clime all that was left of the sovereign, all that was 
left of royalty. We hardly understood what it 
meant, because we w^ere not educated to believe 
in a divine right of kings, and w^ere not educated 
up to the historical eminence that such a fact 
would have in other countries. Here the sovereign 
never dies ; the sovereignty is with the people, and 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 339 

no matter how ofreat, no matter how common the 
man may be, he belongs to that Government of 
the people, for the people and by the people * 
which creates a sovereignty that shall never perish 
from the earth. 

'' In times like these, when we are met to com- 
memorate, to calmly deliberate upon, met to think 
over the services of one who might have been a 
king had he lived elsewhere. It is only then that 
we comprehend how great, how pure, how 
broad are the principles of this Government, In 
which men like Lincoln, men like Grant, men like 
Sheridan and men like Sherman may pass 
from this stage of action and not be credited 
with having within their veins the blood of royalty 
and be deemed by their people sovereigns. The 
Government of this country is founded upon prin- 
ciples which teach and promulgate that all men 
are created equal ; that they are endowed by their 
Creator with Inalienable rioj^hts. And where do we 
get those principles ? And from what source do 
we receive that teaching ? Over 1 800 years ago 
there stood by the sea of Galilee a poor, wayfaring 
Nazarene, with his humanity and divinity ever 



340 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. 7! SHERMAN. 

pointing to the diamond of a pure faith, not seek- 
ing the titled noblUty for his constant companions, 
but the honest, sun-tanned fisherman, and with 
these men he taught the lesson to the world that 
all men were created equal and had to be equal 
before the blesslncrs of his Father would come 

o 

upon them. Thus It Is that we have kings among 
us, and show to the civilized world the perfection 
and high standard of our American Institutions. 
With us a sovereign never dies. 

" To day we are met to think over, as Individuals, 
the services of one who has done much to help 
forward the civilization of our present day. I 
don't believe In dealing with the individualities of 
the time. I don't believe that we can comprehend 
what our present and what our past has been and 
the wonderful effect that it will have in years to 
come upon the people who may follow us. I look 
upon the Grand Army of the Republic of this 
Nation, not as an organization where individual 
members are known and can be called by name, 
because in a few years they will be gone; their 
names will be forgotten. But the great fact that 
such an organization existed will never be obliter- 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 341 

ated from the history of mankind. While we may 
view those who were high in mihtary circles, and 
while we may be mindful of their services, the 
time will come when the services they rendered 
will overcome their Individuality and they will be 
known only in their works. 

"When we think of the great subjects, when we 
think of the great problems and the great prin- 
ciples that were submitted to those in charge ot 
this Nation in the days of Grant, Sherman, 
Sheridan and Lincoln, we are almost overcome 
with the ponderous thoughts that arise in their 
consideration. To-day, can you imagine Presi- 
dent Lincoln in the White House at Washington 
in the days of 1861 looking over the Potomac and 
wondering if this Nation was to live or not? Can 
you see him, solitary and alone, almost unsupport- 
ed, with his eyes streaming over the river, and 
the only hope he had was in the patriotism of 
Grant, the dash of Sherman and the fighting pro- 
pensities of Hooker and Sheridan ? How could 
he have given us peace without those great factors 
who helped him to success ? It is, therefore, not 
with men that we propose to deal, but with those 



342 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN, 

facts and principles which have brought us 
here. 

" Of General Sherman much can be said. No 
living man has had more written of him ; no living 
man has come so to the fireside of every family In 
the land ; no living General has been so before 
the people ; no one has Inspired by his example 
more than this man, whose successes and achieve- 
ments we to-day reverence and admire. I speak 
of him as a Callfornlan. We must remember that 
he was educated at West Point. By his early 
education he was trained as a strict disciplinarian, 
In a school where decorum and everything that 
goes to make up a true soldier were rigidly 
required ; and yet w^e find him here in California 
as a pioneer. Many of you, no doubt, remember 
him — many of you remember him as a successful 
business man, a banker and a true civilian. It 
might seem Impossible that he could ever forget his 
discipline and mingle with the people In a genial 
way, but he showed that he had another side to 
his character beside that of the mere soldier. He 
was In Louisiana when the flag was assailed, when 
the mutterings of treason were abroad in the land. 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 343 

He did not stop to consider whether he himself 
should be benefited by remaining where he was, 
but he gave himself at once to the cause of the 
Union and the cause of right. 

"Those who In that day questioned his judg- 
ment lived to know that he was calm in his pro- 
cedure, sound In his conclusions; not only a 
civilian, but the ideal type of a soldier. When 
he planned that march from Atlanta to the sea, 
that shall live as long as time shall be and the 
history of this Government shall be written, he 
was not surrounded by circumstances that would 
lead to ease and quietude. 

" ' Our bugle sang truce, for the night cloud had lowered, 
And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky, 

And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered, 
The weary to sleep and the wounded to die. 

*' ' And reposing that night on his pallet of straw, 
By the dim campfire that guarded the slain, 

In the dead of the night a sweet vision he saw, 
And thrice ere the morning he dreamed it again.' 

" That grand victorious march so closely associ- 
ated with the rebellion was conceived by him on 
the tented battle-field. 



344 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T, SHERMAN, 

" He was never jealous of intelligence; he had 
no fight to make with his equals; he was modest 
in the extreme. The world never presented a 
picture where three men like Grant, Sheridan and 
Sherman might be seen, each trying to put laurels 
on the other's brow. Speak to Grant, and he 
would tell you of the successes of Sheridan and 
the wonders done by Sherman. Speak to Sheri- 
dan, and he would tell you of the hero of Shiloh 
and the wonderful man of Atlanta. Speak to 
Sherman, and he would tell of Sheridan and 
Grant and fighting Joe Hooker. Where can you 
find such people on the face of the earth? Where 
can be found men with intelligence so great, 
ideas so broad and natures so orenerous that each 
wanted to place upon the other the wreath that he 
himself was justly entitled to from the hands and 
hearts of a generous people. 

''Sherman is dead. His body and his presence 
will never be seen amono- us acrain. He was a 

t> o 

factor, together with his comrades, in American 
civilization; he had opportunities that never will 
come again to any man; he was associated with 
those who were great In their respective capac- 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 845 

Ities, and he was born, lived, acted In an oppor- 
tune time for the benefit of the whole world. He 
was as great as his opportunities ; he was modest, 
as all great men are, and the fitting tributes to 
his memory are the criticisms of the whole world. 
No soldier ever dreaded his presence ; no one 
with a just cause ever flinched from presenting it 
to him; in fact, he was a man — such a one as we 
have a right to imitate as a civilian, and such a 
one as we have a right to be proud of as a mili- 
tary hero. Peace to the just man's memory! 
Let it grow greener with the years! Let the 
mimic canvas show his benevolent features to 
posterity, and In the book of time the glorious 
record of his efforts write ! Hold them up to men, 
and bid them claim a palm like his, and catch 
from him the hallowed flame." 



316 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 



BY GEN. HENRY W. SLOCUM. 

T JOINED General Sherman's expedition from 
Atlanta, and was with it from that time until 
the close of the war. Every other day General 
Sherman rode with me. 

" On these occasions, being a great talker, he 
was as entertaining a companion as could well be 
imagined. His conversation covered a wide 
range of subjects, but touched lightly on the one 
subject which at that time possessed the greatest 
interest for the whole country — the march it- 
self and what was expected of it. 

*' General Sherman's appearance at the time 
was about the same as it was in later years. He 
was angular, nervous, but giving every one the 
impression of being a man of great determina- 
tion. At the same time he was of a sanguine 
temperament. 

*' From the time he started on the expedition, 
he never seemed for a moment to doubt that It 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 847 

would ultimately prove successful. Nothing 
seemed to shake his faith in this respect. He 
never discussed his plans with me to any extent. 
It was not his habit to discuss them with his sub- 
ordinates. He preferred saying little about 
what he intended to do until it became necessary. 
His self-reliance was remarkable. 

" With his troops, General Sherman was exceed- 
ingly popular. This was perhaps but natural, as 
he had led them to success, and a commander in 
such a position generally Is popular. While pos- 
sibly he was not generous with his men, he was 
always just, and this fact they recognized and 
honored him for. His sense of justice caused him 
to be severe in his treatment of those who failed 
to do their duty. He always looked well after 
the welfare of those under his command, and was 
never above having a pleasant word for his men. 

"The feeling of the Southern people against 
General Sherman was probably stronger than 
that felt against any other Northern General. It 
had never been General Sherman's wish or in- 
tention to cause any unnecessary suffeHng to the 
people In the country through which he was 



348 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

marchlnor. For the burnlnof of Columbia he was 
in no way responsible. Yet he was charged with 
it, with much bitterness, by the Southern people. 
As a matter of fact, the inhabitants of the place 
were themselves to blame for its burning. They 
had filled the streets with cotton, and when 
Sherman's army marched in, thinking to propiti- 
ate the soldiers, they had waylaid them with 
whiskey, which they gave to them in tin cups, as 
much as they would take, until every ugly fellow 
in the ranks was still uirlierand hall drunk. 

" General Sherman always expressed great 
regret at the suffering caused by the burning of 
Columbia. He talked with me about it at the 
time, and frequently spoke of it after the war. 
Nothing was further from his intentions than that 
the city should be burned. He strove to burn 
everything useful to the Confederates ; nothing 
else. When we first crossed into South Carolina 
we found we were walking on torpedoes planted 
in the road, and the troops did some burning on 
their own account, but General Sherman put a 
stop to it as soon as possible. 

" One of the most astonishing things about 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 349 

General Sherman was his memory. He never 
seemed to forget anything which he met with and 
which he thought might at any future time be of 
use to him. Having been stationed at Charles- 
ton before the war, he seemed to have the whole 
topography of the State at command. Frequendy 
he was able to give information which was not 
found on the map. 

"The subject of religion was seldom mentioned 
by General Sherman. He was not, however, a 
bigoted man, and the disappointment he felt at his 
son's entering the priesthood, he believed, was 
due not to the fact that he had become a priest, 
but to the fact that he had deserted the profession 
which was his father's choice, and in which he was 
already gaining an enviable reputation. 

'* On politics he was not as reticent, but fre- 
quently declared he wanted nothing to do with 
them and that he would not even become a can- 
didate for the Presidency. General Grant, he 
also declared, had made a mistake in accepting 
the Presidency, as his reputation as a soldier was 
worth more than any civil distinction he could at- 
tain." 



350 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T, SHERMAN. 



BY SENATOR MORGAN. 

"/^N this occasion of national solemnity I would 
lead the thoughts and sympathies of the 
American Senate back to those days in our his- 
tory when Gen. Sherman was, by a choice greatly 
honorable to his nature, a citizen of the State of 
Louisiana, and presided over a college for the 
instruction of Southern youths in the arts of war 
and the arts of peace. Those were not worse 
days than some we have seen during the last half 
of this century. In those days, notwithstanding 
the conditions of the South, in view of its institu- 
tions inherited from the older States of the East, 
every American was as welcome In Louisiana and 
the South as he w^as elsewhere in the Union. We 
are gradually and surely returning to that cordial 
state of feeling which was unhappily interrupted 
by the civil war. 

"Our fathers taught us that it was the highest 
patriotism to defend the Constitution of the coun- 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES, 351 

try. But they had left within its body guarantees 
of an institution that the will of the majority, 
finally determined, should no longer exist and 
which put the conscience of the people to the 
severest test. Lookingr back now to the be^rin- 
ning of this century, and to the conflict of opinion 
and of material interests engendered by those 
guarantees, we can see that they never could have 
been stricken out of the organic law except by a 
conflict of arms. The conflict came, a^ it was 
bound to come, and Americans became enemies 
as they were bound to be in the settlement of 
issues that involved so much money, such radical 
political results, and the pride of a great and 
illustrious race of people. The power rested with 
the victors at the close of the conflict, but not all 
the honors of the desperate warfare. Indeed, the 
survivors are now winning honors, enriched with 
justice and magnanimity, not less worthy than 
those who won the battles, In their labors to 
restore the country to its former feeling of frater- 
nal regard and to unity of sentiment and action 
and to promote its welfare. 

**The fidelity of the great General who has 



352 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

just departed in the ripeness of age, and with a 
history marked by devotion to his flag, was the 
true and simple faith of an American to his con- 
victions of duty. We differed with him, and con- 
tested campaigns and battle-fields with him, but we 
welcome the history of the great soldier as the 
proud inheritance of our country. We do this as 
cordially and as sincerely as we gave him welcome 
in the South as one of our people, when our sons 
were confided to his care, in a relation that (next 
to paternity/had its influence upon the young men 
of the country. 

'^The great military leaders on' both sides of 
our civil war are rapidly marching across the 
border to a land where history and truth and jus- 
tice must decide upon every man's career. When 
they meet there they will be happy to find that 
the honor of human actions is not always meas- 
ured by their vision, but by the motives in which 
they had their origin. I cherish the proud belief 
that the heroes of the civil war will find that, 
measured by this standard, none of them, on 
either side, were delinquent, and they will be 
happy in an association that will never end and 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 353 

will never be disturbed by an evil thought 
jealousy, or distrust. When a line so narrow 
divides us from those high courts in which our 
actions are to be judged by their motives, and 
when so many millions now living, and increasing 
millions to follow, are to be affected by the wisdom 
of our enactments, we will do well to give up this 
day to reflection upon our duties and (in sym- 
pathy with this great country) to dedicate the day 
to his memory. In such a retrospect we shall 
find an admonition that an American Senate 
should meet, on this side of the fatal line of 
death, as the American Generals meet on the 
other side, to render justice to each other and to 
make our beloved country as happy, comparative- 
ly, as we should wish the great beyond to be to 
those great spirits." 



23 



354 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 



BY SENATOR HAWI.EY. 

" T_T E was a great soldier by the judgment of the 
great soldiers of the world. In time of peace 
he had been a great citizen, glowing and abound- 
ing with love of country and of all humanity. 
His glorious soul appeared in every look, gesture, 
and w^ord. 

" The history of our country is rich in soldiers 
who have set examples of simple soldierly obe- 
dience to the civil law and of self-abnegation. 
Washington, Grant, Sheridan and Sherman lead 
the list. Sherman was the last of the illustrious 
trio who were by universal consent the foremost 
fieures in the armies of the Union in the late 
war. Among the precious traditions (to pass 
into our history for the admiration of the old and 
the instruction of the young) was their friendship, 
their most harmonious co-operation without a 
shadow of ambition or pride. When Gen. Grant 
was called to Washington to take command of 
the armies of the Union his great heart did not 
forget the men who stood by him." 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES, 355 



BY HON. CARIy SCHURZ. 

"LJISTORY will not fail to record that this 
great General was, as a victorious soldier, 
a model of republican citizenship. When he had 
done his illustrious deeds, he rose step by step to 
the highest rank In the army, and then, grown 
old, he retired. The Republic made provision for 
him in modest republican style. He was satis- 
fied. He asked for no higher reward. Althoueh 
the splendor of his achievements, and the personal 
affection for him which every one of his soldiers 
carried home, made him the most popular Ameri- 
can of his day, and although the most glittering 
prizes were not seldom held up before his eyes, 
he remained untroubled by ulterior ambition. No 
thought that the Republic owed him more ever 
darkened his mind. No man could have spoken 
to him of the 'Ingratitude of republics' without 
meeting from him a stern rebuke. And so, con- 
tent with the consciousness of a great duty nobly 
done, he was happy in the love of his fellow- 
citizens." 



356 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 



BY EX-PRESIDENT HAYES. 

" 1\/TY Intimate acquaintance with General 
Sherman dates only since the war. I 
had been on friendly terms with him for about 
twenty-five years. He was so well-known to the 
whole people, and especially to the Union soldiers, 
that there is hardly any reason for off-hand talk 
about him. There are probably few men who 
ever lived In any country who were known and 
loved as General Sherman was. He was the 
idol of the soldiers of the Union Army. His 
presence at soldiers' meetings and with soldiers' 
societies and organizations was always hailed with 
the utmost delight. When the General was pres- 
ent the enthusiasm created by his Inspiring pres- 
ence was such as to make him the chief attrac- 
tion at all Important gatherings. He was always 
cordial and very happy in his greetings of his 
comrades. He was full of the comrade spirit, and 
all, from the humblest soldier to the corps com- 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 857 

mander, were equally gratified by the way in 
which they were met and greeted by General 
Sherman. 

" He will be greatly missed and greatly 
mourned by the whole body of men who served 
with and under him, and, indeed, by all the 
soldiers of all the armies. He was generally re- 
garded by them as the military genius of the war. 
He was a voluminous writer, and a ready, prompt 
and capital talker. Probably no man who was 
connected with the war said as many things 
which will be remembered and quoted hereafter 
as did General Sherman. 

"In figure, in face and in bearing he was the 
ideal soldier. I think that it can be said of him 
as he once said of another, that * with him gone, 
the world seems less bright and less cheerful 
than it was before.' The soldiers in looking 
around for consolation for his death will find much 
in the fact that he lived so long — almost twenty- 
six years after the final victory. There is also 
some consolation in the fact that he has gone be- 
fore age and disease had impaired his wonderful 
powers and attractions. He was, in short, the 



358 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

most picturesque, magnetic and original character 
in the great conflict. He was occasionally in his 
writings and talk wonderfully pathetic. I recall 
nothing connected with the war that was finer in 
that way than a letter which he wrote, probably 
during the second year of the war, when his son, 
about ten years old, who was named after the 
General, died in camp. The boy fancied that he 
belonged to a regiment in his father's command, 
and the members of the regiment were very at- 
tentive to him during his sickness, and at the time 
of his death General Sherman wrote a letter to 
men of the regiment, thanking them for what 
they had done. I cannot now recall the terms of 
that letter, but I doubt not that if it were now 
published many an eye would moisten as it was 
read. 

"A very noble trait in the character of General 
Sherman was the fidelity of his friendships. His 
loyal support of Grant under all the circum- 
stances cannot be surpassed in all the history of 
the relations between eminent men engaged in a 
common cause." 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 359 



BY HON. CHARLES F MANDERSON. 

" United States Senate, 

"Washington, D. C, March 9, 1891. 
"R. H. Woodward & Co., 

220 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Md. 

" Dear Sirs: — Your favor of the 4th Instant is 
received. I really have not the time to comply 
with your request that I should write an article 
for publication on General Sherman, of such char- 
acter as the man and the object you seek to 
accomplish, would naturally require. I send you 
herewith enclosed a clipping from the Congres- 
sional Recoi^d which contains an unprepared 
tribute that I paid to his memory when the news 
of his death came to the United States Senate. I 
met, and came to know General Sherman at an 
early period in the war. I served under him 
during the great Atlanta Campaign, In command 
of my regiment and part of the time in command 
of a demi-brlgade. Since the war it has been my 



860 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

good fortune and great pleasure to have seen 
much of him, and with all others who came in 
contact with him, I not only had the highest re- 
spect for his great ability, but a strong affection that 
naturally resulted from his m.any delightful traits 
of mind and heart. He is enshrined in the hearts 
of the American people and there will always be 
among those who served with and knew him, a 
greater degree of affection than would be extend- 
ed toward any other of the great leaders of the 
Union cause in the War of the Rebellion. On 
his 70th birthday, Senator Squire, of Washington, 
General Anson G. McCook, Secretary of the Sen- 
ate, and I, joined in a telegram to him congratu- 
lating him upon his good health and wishing that 
he might live long to enjoy the love of his coun- 
trymen. February 9th, 1890, I received a letter 
from him of which I will quote a part, because it 
shows the kindliness of his nature and the affection 
that he bore for those who had served with him. 
He says: 

'''My dear and good friends : — Such a kind and 
gracious message as you sent me yesterday, my 
70th birthday, fell like the dew of Heaven on th^ 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 361 

head of your old commander, and may revive his 
vital energy that he may yet dance at some of 
your funerals. One thing is certain: spite of the 
voracious newspaper correspondents, his hair is not 
silvered over, but remains the same old chestnut 
sorrel it was the days we played soldier. Yesterday, 
letters, telegrams, presents and flowers showered 
in on him till he was bewildered, and now 
asks McCook to come to his relief on the 
theory that grave and reverend Senators 
cannot stoop to such trifles. Did you jointly 
or severally send, or order to be sent, a 
composite bouquet showing the glory of our 
national coat of arms with the stars and stripes all 
proper ? If so, I beg to thank you and compli- 
ment your florist on his skill. If not, I must seek 
for the donor elsewhere, because yesterday my 
household became a lltde mixed, but now the 
dishes are all washed, the house got in order, and 
I am now left to guess who sent this or that and 
the why and wherefore. If an ordinary birthday 
occasions such a commotion, don't expect an invi- 
tation until my centennial in 1920. With a love 
and affection for my comrades of the War — once 



362 LIFE OF GENERAL WM.T. SHERMAN. 

young, now In prime manhood or old age — which 
grows in intensity with each receding year, I 
am sincerely, Your friend, 

"'W. T. Sherman/ 

" I think that nothing coujd show the warmth of 
General Sherman's nature better than this letter. 

" I hope that some one may give to the world 
before a great while, so that his old comrades in 
arms can enjoy reading the work, a carefully 
edited book, giving his letters and speeches since 
the war. They breathe a kindliness of spirit, a 
soundness of sense and patriotism so exalted that 
they would result in great good to coming gener- 
ations of the Republic. 

"Truly Yours, 

" Charles F. Manderson." 

" Mr. Manderson, Mr. President, as the wait- 
ing hours of the last two or three expectant days 
have passed away I have not had the heart to 
make that preparation for the sad event, by all 
feared and dreaded, that would seem to be meet 
and appropriate. An effort to prepare anything 
during the life of the great one that might be in 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 368 

the nature of a post rnortem tribute seemed to me 
like a surrender to an enemy. 

" This death comes to us, although we might 
have been prepared for it, as the unexpected, for 
hope has been with us all. This is a day, Mr. 
President, as is suggested in the message which 
we have received from the Chief Executive, of 
national mourning and of widespread grief. 
Here at the capital of the nation lies ready for 
interment the body of the great Admiral, the chief 
of the Navy, and in New York, being prepared 
for the last sad rites, is the corpse of the greatest 
military genius this nation has produced. 

" Mr. President, he was not only great as a 
military leader, but, as suggested by the Senator 
from Connecticut [Mr. Hawley], he was equally 
great as a civilian. Who is there that has stood 
by General Sherman and heard him tell in vivid 
words of the events and observations of his won- 
derful career but has felt an admiration for the 
man and a respect for his ability such as he could 
feel for no other with whom he came in contact? 
How eventful that career ! How varied his exper- 
ience ! We have heard him speak of his life in 



864 LIFE OF GENERAL IVM. T. SHERMAN. 

the early days in California, of that brave struggle 
he, with others, made to carve out the great 
empires of the Pacific Slope. We have heard the 
story of his going to the South and of his passing 
into semi-obscurity, to emerge from it when the 
nation called her sons to arms for her defence, and 
become the brightest and most brilliant of all her 
military leaders. 

" General Sherman, Mr. President, was perhaps 
the only man, in the Nordi at least, who in the early 
days of the war seemed to appreciate to the full 
what this terrible conflict meant. His life in the 
South, that broad and extended observation that 
had been his to make over all this broad land, 
and his knowledge of men, had taught him that 
l,he crushing of the rebellion would be no *break- 
fast job.' 

" We well remember how It was said in the days 
of 1 86 1 that he must be Insane to make the 
suggestions that he did. We recall how, when, 
in Kentucky, he was at the head of a body of 
troops numbering less than 20,000, in conversation 
with General Halleck, I think it was, who was 
sent to consult with him, he said that to hold the 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 365 

lines of defence merely in Kentucky would take 
60,000 men, and that before the Union troops 
were through with the task in the centre and be 
able to make aggressive attack 200,000 men must 
be called to arms for duty there. This sugges- 
tion was one so startling to the country that it is 
not to be wondered at that men doubted his 
sanity. 

" He seemed, Mr. President, to live, as men of 
great genius are said to live, in that debatable 
ground which is sometimes referred to as existing 
between the line of perfect sanity and insanity. 

" Great wits are sure to madness near allied." 

" His military career really opened at Shiloh. It 
was not my fortune to serve under him at Shiloh. 
I was with the column of Buell that marched down 
from Nashville to Savannah and crossed the river 
on the evening of the first day. There can be no 
question about it, and there Is no man who 
witnessed that scene who does not know that 
that first day of Shiloh was one of disaster and 
great danger to the Union arms. But there 
were two men on that battle-field, however, who 
did not know that they were whipped. One was 



386 LIFE OF GENERAL VVM. T. SHERMAN 

Ulysses S. Grant, the captain, and the other was 
William Tecumseh Sherman, the lieutenant. They 
* wrested victory from the jaws of defeat.* 

" We follow, in thought, his career from Shiloh 
to Vicksburg. In that wonderful campaign and 
memorable siege there was a renewal of that 
affinity, that brotherhood in thought and action, 
that seemed to exist between Grant and Sherman. 
There was never aught of jealousy between those 
great men. The Senator from Connecticut [Mr. 
Hawley] has read the glowing tributes of the 
one to the other. They acted In unison, and were 
an Impelling force before which everything gave 
way. 

" What an exultant feeling of victory went over 
the country when, on that memorable day in July, 
Vicksburg fell ! It was the ray of hope piercing 
the gloom. It seemed to the patriotic North, 
weary with much waiting, as the prophecy of 
ultimate success. 

" He came east with the Army of the Tennessee. 
We, who were of the Army of the Cumberland 
under Thomas, joined forces with Sherman's men 
of the far West at Chattanooga. That great 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 367 

victory, conceived by Grant, achieved under 
Sherman and Thomas, and where the entering 
wedge of battle was driven by Sherman at Tunnel 
Hill, has been sung in song and written in story. 
It was the fitting overture of that wonderful 
Atlanta campaign. There will be to the student 
of warfare no recital more interesting, no lesson 
more instructive, than that which comes from that 
over one hundred days of fighting from Catoosa 
Springs to Lovejoy Station, which ended in the 
capture of Adanta. There was the steady unfal- 
tering pressure of tremendous military power 
and a master hand guiding the resistless force. 

" There was in front of the Union soldier a 
foeman worthy of his steel. The conduct of the 
Confederate Army under its skillful leader in its 
masterly retreat during that campaign is one that 
is unequaled in the history of war, and had there 
not been at the head of the Union forces a soldier 
so admirably equipped as Sherman, I do not 
believe that Atlanta, that Gate City of the South, 
would have been ours. The capture of that city, 
the opening of that gate, permitted the 'march to 
the sea,' over which orators grew eloquent, and 



368 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

which produced the famlHar song which will live 
forever in the poetry of nations, and be the tune 
of inspiration to the daring of soldiers while war 
shall be. 

" General Sherman not only knew what this 
war was to be, but he knew what war meant 
beyond any man who fought on either side. I 
have sent to the Library and procured his Mem- 
oirs, desiring to refer for a moment to a letter^ 
written by him to the Mayor of the city when his 
army had occupied Atlanta after it had been 
evacuated by the Confederate troops. I sent for 
it that I might refresh my memory and be able to 
give here and now what Sherman's idea of war 
was, and what he believed were the duties of 
peace. 

^'I know there is a common conception that 
Sherman waged war cruelly, and that he was not 
actuated by those finer motives which sometimes 
prompt men who see their duty differently. This 
was not so, and in this letter to the Mayor and 
City Council of Atlanta, when they were pleading 
that their women and children might be allowed 
to remain within the fortifications of this captured 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES. 369 

City, he showed not only full appreciation of war's 
horrors, but displayed his knowledge of how Its 
terrors could be best ended to those who were 
suffering from It. He wrote : 

" ' We must have peace, not only at Atlanta, 
but in all America. To secure this we must stop 
the war that now desolates our once happy and 
favored country. To stop the war we must 
defeat the rebel armies which are arrayed against 
the laws and Constitution that all must respect 
and obey. To defeat those armies we must pre- 
pare the way to reach them in their recesses, pro- 
vided with the arms and Instruments which enable 
us to accomplish our purpose. 

****** 

"'You cannot qualify war In harsher terms 
than I will. War Is cruelty, and you cannot 
refine It; and those who brought war Into our 
country deserve all the curses and maledictions a 
people can pour out. I know I had no hand in 
making this war, and I know I will make more 
sacrifices to-day than any of you to secure peace. 
But you cannot have peace and a division of our 
country. 
24 



370 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

Am 4|« ^a ^ «{« *£* 

^* * Once admit the Union, once more acknowl- 
edge the authority of the National Government, 
and. Instead of devoting -your houses and streets 
and roads to the dread uses of war. I and this army 
become at once your protectors and supporters, 
shielding you from danger, let it come from what 
quarter it may. 

^ »j» 5j^ !j» !j» Sj* 

" * I want peace, and believe it can only be 
reached through union and war, and I will ever 
conduct war with a view to perfect and early 
success.' 

" The unfortunate thing was that this important 
lesson was not taught earlier in the days of our 
civil strife. Had it been it would have saved 
many thousands of lives and untold suffering to 
this country. 

" General Sherman never trifled with his duty. 
He appreciated the duty of peace as well ; and I 
believe the sentence came from the inmost re- 
cesses of his heart when he wrote in this same 
letter these words : 

" * But, my dear sirs, when peace does come, 



t\ 



REMINISCENCES AND TRIBUTES, 371 

you may call on me for anything. Then will I 
share with you the last cracker, and watch with 
you to shield your homes and families against 
danger from every quarter.' 

" He did full duty In peace or war. Estimable 
as a citizen, and as fully appreciating the duties 
of a civilian as he was admirable as a soldier. 

" But, Mr. President, the strife that we have 
watched with such intense interest for the past 
few days has ceased. The conflict has ended. A 
nation has witnessed it. Sixty millions of people 
have stood in silence watching for the supreme 
result. Death, ever victorious, is again a vic- 
tor. A great conqueror is himself conquered. 
Our captain lies dead ! 

" The pale lip saith to the sunken eye, 

' Where is thy kindling glance '^. ' 
* And where thy winning smile,' 
It makes reply." 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX 



OLD TIMES IN CALIFORNIA. 

" I ^HE rise and development of California and 
of the Pacific States and Territories seem 
to Have more interest to the present generation 
than the slower, steadier growth of Missouri, 
Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota, Colorado, etc. 
The Southeastern States of the Union, though 
making large progress, have seemingly with- 
drawn from competition with the Great West. 

There are plenty of histories of California, and all 
I now propose is to supply from my own memory 
some episodes illustrating the American method 
for a State or group of States to pass from a lower 
to a higher grade of civilization. In 1846 there 
were two distinct Californias — Upper and Lower. 

* By special permission and kindness of the Editor of North 
American Review, we are enabled to give extracts from 
several very interesting and valuable articles by General Sherman. 

375 



376 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

The name of California is generally supposed to 
come from the two Latin words, calor (heat), 
fornax (oven). This name might properly apply 
to Lower, but not to Upper California. Upper 
California has a temperate climate, and was first 
colonized by pious people from Mexico, who 
solely aimed to Christianize the native Indians. 
When our ancestors were fighting the French in 
Canada (1756), and afterwards fighting for the 
Independence of the Colonies from the Dominion 
of Great Britain (1775-83), these pious people 
were employed in founding the missions of San 
Diego, San Louis Rey, St. Juan Capistrano, San 
Gabriel, Maria de los Angeles, San Fernando, 
Buenaventura, Santa Barbara, Santa Inez, San 
Luis Obispo, San Miguel, Soledad, Monterey, 
San Juan Bautista, Santa Clara, San Francisco 
de Asiz, San Rafael and Sonoma. The Indians 
of the Pacific Coast were a most submissive race, 
were taught agriculture and some of the ruder 
aits, and the period from 1756 to 1830 is, or w^as, 
described as a sort of Elysium. 

In 182 1 the Republic of Mexico fought for 
and gained her independence from Spain, thereby 



APPENDIX. 377 

becoming sovereign of both the Californias. The 
missions named were soon after "secularized" — 
that is, were reduced to civil instead of religious 
rule. The authority of the priests thereby became 
limited to their churches, schools, gardens, orch- 
ards, etc^ and Mexico granted their other or surplus 
lands and privileges to outsiders and immigrants. 
Old soldiers were thus compensated for services 
to Mexico, and as a rule these new settlers, or 
rancheros, devoted their time to the rearing of 
horses, cattle and sheep. There never was or 
can be a better description of California in that 
epoch (1830-35) thanis contained in Dana's "Two 
Years Before the Mast," accessible to every 
reader. 

In 1846 the United States declared war to 
exist with Mexico, and I, as a Lieutenant of 
Captain C. Q. Tompkins' company of the Third 
Artillery, was sent in the U. S. store-ship "Lex- 
ington" to California, around Cape Horn, 198 
days buffeting with the winds and waves, yet 
arriving, January 29, 1847, at Monterey, the 
most speedy and convenient route possible at 
that day. There was no city of San Francisco 



378 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

then. Our orders were to occupy and hold Mon- 
terey, the capital of Alta, or Upper California. 
We found there a lieutenant of U. S. Marines 
(Maddox), and a midshipman (Baldwin), who 
transferred the public property to us most grace- 
fully, and our Company F, Third Artillery, Cap- 
tain C. Q. Tompkins, became masters of the 
situation. 

The frigate "Independence'' lay in the harbor, 
commanded by Commodore William Bransford 
Shubrick, a native of South Carolina, one of the 
most accomplished gentlemen I have ever met. 
I happened to be on board that frigate dining 
with the ward-room officers when the sloop- of - 
war "Cyane," Captain Du Pont, was reported off 
the harbor coming in from San Diego. In that 
sloop was General S. W. Kearney, of the regular 
army of the United States, who, with a smart 
escort, had come across the continent with orders 
to command the land forces, leaving the navy 
equal control at sea. 

Thus wisely and properly the division of 
power was adjusted, order and system resulted, 
and from that day to this Upper California has 



APPENDIX. 379 

grown by the natural law of American develop- 
ment, whilst Lower California yet remains in 
statu quo^ a province of Mexico. 

In 1847, o^ly forty-two years ago, there was 
no such thing as a mail in California. Letters 
came straggling by chance ships from China, 
Valparaiso, Callao, and the Sandwich Islands. 

The- Adjutant-General of the army, afterwards 
from Washington, sent across land, by Kit Car- 
son^ F. X. Aubrey and Roubideaux, a few offi- 
cial letters once a year by way of Fort Leaven- 
worth, Santa Fe, Los Angeles, etc., starting 
usually in September of each year, and reaching 
our headquarters at Monterey in May of the fol- 
lowing year. That was the surest and most 
expeditious way we in California could receive 
letters from our Eastern friends in 1847, 1848 
and part of 1849. 

As soon as General S. W. Kearney had estab- 
lished his headquarters in Monterey (March, 
1847), ^^ ordered the quartermaster. Captain 
Folsom, at Yerba Buena (now San Francisco), 
to establish a semi-monthly mail from San Fran- 
cisco to San Diego, a distance of 500 miles. 



380 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

Captain Folsom divided tlie route into four parts 
— San Francisco to Monterey, Monterey to 
"Dana's '^ (Nepoma), Dana's to Los Angeles, and 
Los Angeles to San Diego. This was the first 
regular mail route ever established on the Pacific 
Coast. General Kearney, in May, 1847, returned 
to vi^hat v^as then called the United States, leav- 
ing Colonel R. B. Mason, First Dragoons, in his I 
place, and me as his Adjutant-General. All 
reports, messages, etc., came to me, and I had a 
small adobe house, with a negro boy, "Jim," who 
was supposed to take care of me. The mail-rider 
from Monterey to Dana's was an old trapper, 
Jim Beckworth, a counterpart of Jim Bridger, 
except that Beckworth was a cross between a 
voyageur of Canada and a Crow Indian, and was, 
in my estimate, one of the best chroniclers of 
events on the plains that I have ever encoun- 
tered, though his reputation for veracity was not 
good. 

Some time in the fall of 1848 I was seated in 
my room at Monterey when Jim Beckworth came 
in with his saddle-bags of mail and exclaimed : 
"Leftenant, they killed them all, not even spar- 



APPENDIX. 381 

ing the baby." '' Ji^j" said I, " what the devil 
are you talking about ? None of your lies, now ! " 
" I tell you, Leftenant," repeated Jim, " that they 
killed them all, not even sparing the baby." 

After overhauling the mail of letters from San 
Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, etc., most of 
which it was my duty to forward by another ex- 
press messenger to Yerba Buena, I naturally 
turned to Jim Beckworth. " What is this you 
report ? " With an earnestness not to be mis- 
taken, he reiterated : '' Leftenant, I tell you that 
Reed at San Miguel is killed, all his family and 
servants, not excepting the baby." He then told 
me, with a vividness of detail not exceeded by 
Dickens, how he had received his mail at Dana's, 
had ridden to San Luis Obispo, and so on to 
San Miguel. Approaching this mission at night, 
he observed the absence of the usual lights. Still 
he drove his two spare horses into the interior 
corral, hitched his own to a post, went as usual 
into the kitchen for his supper, and saw the In- 
dian cook, as he supposed, on the floor asleep. 
Trying to arouse him, he found his own hand 
covered with warm blood. Then, fully alarmed, 



382 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

he regained his horse and went on to the nearest 
ranche, some five miles off, gathered a few 
friends, and returned to the mission. Hiding 
their horses in the orchard, they crept up to the 
Mission of San Miguel and gained the kitchen ; 
the body of the cook was gone, but it had left a 
trace which they followed to a back building, 
where were piled, along with old beams and raft- 
ers, the dead bodies of Reed, his wife, children, 
and servants, all murdered, and meant to be 
consumed, along with the mission itself, by the 
murderers. The whole scene was so horrid that 
Jim Beckworth, though he had spent his whole 
life with Indians and hunters, confessed that he 
was scared., that he regained his horse down in 
the orchard, and did not stop till he reached me, 
ninety miles away at Monterey. Satisfied that 
he was telling me as near the truth as Jim 
Beckworth could, I took him to the quarters of 
Colonel R. B. Mason, commanding the Depart- 
ment, where he repeated the same story. Col- 
onel Mason instructed me to go up to the fort on 
the hill and order Lieutenant Ord to take a 
detachment of soldiers, to proceed with all pos- 



APPENDIX. 383 

sible dispatcli to San Miguel, to ascertain the 
facts, and pursue the murderers to the death. 
This event occurred during the Mexican war, 
when the military power in California was su- 
perior to the civil, though we tolerated judges of 
the First Instance, Alcaldes, etc., to administer 
civil justice among the people, who universally 
spoke the Spanish language and respected the old 
Mexican laws. Also, at that date, everybody 
traveled on horseback, usually with three horses 
to one rider, two driven ahead and one under 
saddle. Thus our habit was to make ten leagues 
or thirty miles a day, and, if necessity required, as 
much as a hundred miles a day, always at a gallop, 
without baggage or food, except "jerked beef" and 
" pinole '^ (parched corn), tied to the saddle. Lieu- 
tenant Ord, with his detachment, was off before 
midnight, reached San Miguel (ninety miles) the 
next day, found Jim Beckworth's story true, got 
the trail of the murderers, which led south by 
Santa Inez, back of Santa Barbara, and at the 
Rinconada, twenty-fivemiles south, he overtook 
the party, who proved to be four deserters from 
the sloop-of-war " Warren," lying in the harbor 



384 LIFE OF GENERAL JVM T. SHERMAN, 

of Monterey. Tliey liad a running figlit, in 
whicli Ord lost one of his men, killed the ring- 
leader, and captured the other three men. These 
three confessed everything, and, as usual, threw 
off the crime on their dead comrade, their " name- 
less leader." 

Gold was discovered at Sutter's Sawmill, Co- 
loma, early in 1848. In the autumn of that 
year, no story was too big to be swallowed. Sol- 
diers and sailors believed that men at the mines 
were shoveling gold in bags by the ton, and 
they deserted their posts and their ships to share 
in this '' bonanza.'' Four men deserted from the 
United States sloop-of-war " Warren,^' at Mon- 
terey, with little or no knowledge of geography, 
but impelled by the universal greed for gold. By 
some means they got horses, only worth from $5 
to $8 apiece, and on an evening of October, 
1848, found themselves near the old mission of 
San Miguel. This mission had been leased 
from the padre, or priest, by an Irishman named 
Reed, with a native wife, half a dozen children 
and servants, a few horses, cattle and sheep. He 
had been to the mines with a flock of sheep, 



APPENDIX, 385 

which he sold at a gold ounce — $i6 — apiece, 
when a few months before they were only worth 
$1.25 apiece. 

These deserters unsaddled and picketed their 
horses in the valley, where the grass was good, 
walked up to the mission, and were received by 
Reed, as always, most hospitably. The mission 
was, like all others in California, built in a 
quadrangle, enclosing a space used as a corral 
for cattle, horses, or sheep. The front included 
the church, the residence of the priest, and of 
\\i^gente de razon^ the quality or better class. 
The sides of the quadrangle sheltered the neo- 
phytes, the workmen and women of the mission, 
and the rear building, facing inwards, generally 
served as work-shops, store-rooms, etc., etc. 
About the middle of the main front was a gate 
closed at night, making the whole defensible. 
All the buildings were habitually of one story, 
except the church, were of adobes (sun-dried 
bricks), with the tile roofs, dirt floors, and barred 
windows, projecting or porch roofs inside. Such 
was the mission of San Miguel in the fall of 

1848. 

25 



386 LIFE OF GENERAL JVM. T. SHERMAN. 

When these four men came, Reed received 
them in his accustomed manner, gave them sup- 
per, and invited them to share his hospitality. 
In one corner of his room was a fireplace with 
chimney, not usual at that date, and behind in 
the same room was a pile of wood with an axe. 
In that same room was an ordinary seaman s 
chest. Sitting by this fire smoking their pipes, 
Reed naturally inquired : '^ Boys, where are you 
going ? " Their leader answered : ^' We are de- 
serters from the sloop-of-war ^ Warren,' anchored 
at Monterey, and we are bound for the gold 
mines." Reed said: "You are on the wrong 
road ; you should have gone by St. Juan Bau- 
tista, Cacheco's, etc., to the Stanislaus.' The 
leader said they had taken this the longer road 
to avoid the chances of capture. 

Then a general conversation ensued about the 
gold mines. Reed said he had been there, and 
the miners were making piles of gold. He had 
sold sheep for $i 6 not worth more than a dollar 
and a quarter a few months before, and intimated 
that the seaman s chest contained the results of 
his speculation. The leader of these deserters 



APPENDIX, 387 

went back to tlie wood-pile, seemingly to replen- 
isli the fire, but took tHe axe, approached Reed 
from behind, and clove his skull. Then ensued 
pandemonium. The mother and her babe in the 
next room, the children begging for their lives, 
and, finally, the servants, including the cook, 
all — all — were murdered. Then came the sound 
of Jim Beckworth, with his two extra mail 
horses. The deserters naturally hid themselves, 
but when Jim had found the cook with fresh 
blood, and had departed, they searched the mis- 
sion for gold. The seaman's chest contained 
little or no gold; only some presents of calico 
which Reed had bought for his children. They 
then dragged the bodies to the rear building, 
piled them up with old rafters, intending to 
burn the mission, and thereby efface all traces 
of their guilt. The opportune return of Jim 
Beckworth, with his posse of rancheros, again 
disturbed them. They regained their horses, 
and fled south. 

As before stated. Lieutenant Ord (afterwards 
Brigadier-General E- O. C. Ord, of the regular 
army) overtook them at the Angustura Pass^ 



388 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

below Santa Barbara, killed the leader, took tbe 
other three back to Santa Barbara, and delivered 
them to the Alcalde, Lewis Dent, brother of 
Mrs. General Grant. 

They all made full confessions, had a fair 
trial, and were sentenced to be shot. They 
were shot, Lieutenant Ord and his detachment 
present, but not assisting ; and no men ever 
better deserved death than these three. When 
Lieutenant Ord returned to Monterey and re- 
ported what he had done. Colonel R. B. Mason, 
a strict constructionist, doubted Ord's right to 
assist in what he construed as an unlawful act ; 
but I always contended that my orders to Ord 
to follow the murderers "to the death" were 
Colonel Mason's orders, and were absolute and 
final. At all events, time has settled this ques- 
tion forever. 

California, from 1848 to 1888, passed through 
all the phases of civilization which England did 
in the past thousand years. In 1846 it was an 
outlying Mexican Province. At that time there 
was not a shod horse in California, not a tavern, 
hotel, or even a common wagon road. We trav- 



APPENDIX. 389 

elled by trails, on horseback, sleeping by the 
road-side, eating jerked meat or game shot with 
our rifles. And now California has better hotels, 
better markets, more convenient appurtenances 
for travel than London, Paris or Vienna, and as 
good stores, factories and machine-shops. 

When I first rode into Yerba Buena (now San 
Francisco), in 1847, I could not command a 
roof, a common meal, or even buy oats, barley 
or hay for my tired horse. Noiv^ anybody can 
obtain a good carriage, hotel, and room as luxu- 
rious as can be found in the world. By the law 
of virtual velocities this transition has been sud- 
den, violent and necessary. The existence of 
San Francisco on the Pacific coast was de- 
manded by the civilization of the whole world, 
— a necessary link between Europe, America, 
Japan, China, etc. Mexico was not equal to 
accomplish this task, and we of the United 
States have the right to claim the perfect fulfill- 
ment of a noble task in the grand march of 
civilization which must encompass the globe. 

But it is not of this problem that I now want 
to treat, but of episodes which have marked its 



390 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

progress up to tHe present moment, leaving to 
others to fulfill Burns' propliec}^ that " man to 
man, the world o'er, shall brothers be.'' 

The recent death of Admiral Baldwin in this 
city recalls to my memory a most interesting 
incident, and one illustrative of the development 
of civilization on the Pacific coast. 

As soon as the United States had become 
possessed of California, arrangements for a more 
perfect communication with it were begun, even 
before the discovery of gold had attracted world- 
wide attention. A contract was made for a 
monthly steamship line from New York and 
New Orleans to California by way of Panama. 
The first of these steamers, the ^' California," 
reached Monterey February 23, 1849; ^^^ next, 
the " Oregon,'' in March, and the " Panama " in 
April. Thereafter we had a monthly mail to 
the '' United States." Of this line Wm. H. As- 
pinwall & Co. became the owners. Subsequently 
a rival line was established by way of Nicara- 
gua, of which Mr. Vanderbilt was the chief 
owner. Being in San Francisco in the autumn 
of 1853, and having business in St. Louis and 



APPENDIX. 391 

New York, I took passage by way of Nicaragua 
in the side-wheeler " Brother Jonathan," of 
which Lieutenant Baldwin, U. S. Navy, was 
the captain. He may have resigned from the 
navy before that date ; but he was every inch 
a sailor, a gentleman, a type of the school in 
which he had been reared, and the same who, 
when a midshipman, had been relieved by us of 
the command of that block-house at Monterey 
in 1847. 

Our voyage down the coast was uneventful, 
with about one hundred and fifty first-class pas- 
sengers going home from California, arwi about 
four hundred and fifty steerage passengers. 
When off the coast of Lower California, one 
morning, Baldwin and I were standing on the 
hurricane deck near the pilot-house, when we 
noticed some commotion and unusual noise 
among the steerage passengers on the deck be- 
low — the spar deck, — and presently a strong, 
stout man, who had a rope around his neck, was 
shoved forward by a crowd of angry men, and 
one of the steerage passengers had shinned up 
the jack-staff at the very bow, where was a 



392 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

cross-jack, over whicH the rope was passed, and 
^YQ. minutes more that man would have been 
struggling as from . a gallows. Baldwin called 
out : " What are you men about ? " But not 
the least attention was paid to him. He was 
then at his prime, about thirty-one years of age. 
He jumped to the lower deck, seized a hand- 
spike from the rail, and felled three or- four of 
the ringleaders, all the time calling on the steer- 
age passengers to desist, and for his mates and 
crew to come to his help. At last there was a 
pause, and one of the steerage passengers spoke 
to him *• " Ca|)tain, this man is a gambler, a ras- 
cal, a thief duly convicted, and we mean to hang 
him." Baldwin replied : " This is a United 
States ship. I am captain, and you are pas- 
sengers. _ That flag which is at the peak is sa- 
cred. No violence shall be done one of my pas- 
sengers without my consent. Take off that 
rope, and leave me to be the judge.'' " No ! 
Captain, we respect you ; but we intend to hang 
this man." Through this delay the mates, crew 
and cabin passengers had come to the relief of 
the captain ; the noose was taken from the neck 



i 



APPENDIX, 393 

of the trembling man, and lie was safely es- 
corted to a lower state-room, and there securely 
guarded. Then the angry men told Captain 
Baldwin that the man he had rescued from cer- 
tain death was a well-known gambler of San 
Francisco ; that he was the owner of a nugget 
of gold nominally worth about ^n^ hundred dol- 
lars ; that, being '' short," he had offered it for 
sale to his fellow-passengers, and had finally put 
it up to rafEe, — fifty chances at ten dollars a 
chance ; that it had been won by a young lad 
from Illinois, who was returning home as poor 
as he went, and who was so overjoyed at win- 
ning this prize, which he could take home to his 
grandmother, that he went around to shov/ it to 
his fellow-passengers. I remember his coming 
to me, his face beaming with satisfaction; but 
he afterwards showed it to a doctor, who was 
more suspicious, and who, with his knife-blade, 
detached some pieces of quartz, and developed 
the fact that the "nugget of gold'' was only 
lead coated with gold by electricity. The bo}^ 
was correspondingly indignant at this palpable 
swindle, aroused the passions of his fellow-steer- 



394 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

age passengers, and these would have hung that 
man in another ^yq: minutes had not Captain 
Baldwin interposed. The gambler claimed that 
he had bought the nugget in San Francisco, 
had, himself, been imposed on, and showed a 
bill of sale. After some negotiation, Baldwin 
consented to an investigation, which resulted in 
a regular " miners' court," on the hurricane 
deck pf the " Brother Jonathan." An old gen- 
tleman named Kelly — the same who owned 
Kelly's Island in Lake Erie, famous for its 
grapes — was chosen as judge; a good jury of 
twelve men was impaneled ; a prosecuting attor- 
ney was appointed, and the prisoner was allowed 
to choose his own counsel. Baldwin had the 
awning spread, and chairs and benches for the 
court, witnesses and spectators, of whom I was 
one ; and I have rarely seen a more dignified 
court. The testimony was full and complete ; 
the arguments of counsel were really brilliant ; 
the charge of the judge dignified, and the jury 
retired. In due time the foreman sent word 
that the jury had come to a verdict. All again 
assembled on that hurricane deck, and the ver- 



APPENDIX. 395 

diet was rendered : '' Guilty ; the worthless nug- 
get to be cast into the sea ; the money the gam- 
bler had actually received to be given to the 
Illinois boy (about $350), and the gambler to be 
punished with hickory withes as soon as he got 
ashore in Nicaragua." The result was that 
Captain Baldwin maintained the honor and dis- 
cipline of his ship, the boy got the net proceeds 
of the lottery, and as there is not a " h;ckory 
withe " within a thousand miles of Nicaragua, 
I infer that that gambler got off without a 
beating. 

It is a matter of history that I, individually 
and officially, opposed the Vigilance Committee 
of San Francisco in 1856, because I believed 
the time had passed for such extreme meas- 
ures ; that the courts, especially Judge Norton's, 
were better qualified to try the cases which 
caused so much feeling than any which could 
be devised by the Vigilance Committee; and I 
knew that the Governor of the State, J. Neely 
Johnson, was resolved to execute the lawful 
sentences of the courts. 

Absolute and perfect obedience to the Consti- 



396 LIFE OF GENERAL JVM. T. SHERMAN. 

tution of the United States is, and should be, 
the duty and pride of every good citizen. The 
fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth amendments 
guarantee to the vilest criminal protection till 
duly convicted, and to no single man or com- 
munity is given the right to set aside these 
fundamental principles of eternal justice. 

In due time the "Brother Jonathan" reached 
San Xuan del Sur, and we all scrambled to get 
across to Greytown and home. I have seen none 
of these people since ; but with Baldwin as Mid- 
shipman, Lieutenant, Captain, Commodore, and 
Admiral, I have been associated ever since ; and 
but a few weeks ago I saw the casket inclos- 
ing his body lowered into an honored tomb. 

If our Government will continue to encourage 
such men, no American need entertain a doubt 
of the future of his country. 

Wholesale murders, mobs, miners' courts, and 
vigilance committees have long ceased in Cali- 
fornia. We go there to-day in palace cars, with 
every luxury and comfort, in less than one 
week, knowing that for a reasonable considera- 
tion the Palace, Baldwin, Cosmopolitan and Lick 



APPENDIX. 397 

hotels will receive us, and give better enter- 
tainment than the Grand of Paris or Langham 
of London. Justice and law are as well en- 
forced there as here in New York, and all the 
manufactures, trade and business are conducted 
on a scale which fully measures the demand. 

Such transformations have not occurred in 
the same time since the creation of the earth, 
and seem more like the fables of the Arabian 
Nights than a realit}.^ ; yet these things are 
the creations of American energy. Nothing 
but the folly of man can check this progress, 
and the modern Ku-Klux and White Caps 
should take warning, and join in this general 
advance by honest, persistent, methods rather 
than by spasmodic attempts. Let them reform 
themselves and take the beam out of their own 
eyes before seeking the mote in others — a 
measure sanctioned by high authority. 

W. T. Sherman. 



398 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 



GRANT, THOMAS, LEE. 

TN Macmtllan's Magazine for March, 1887, 
publisHed in London and New York, appears 
a most interesting article of ten pages, from the 
pen of General Lord Wolseley, in which, review- 
ing the recent Memoirs of Robert E. Lee, his Mili- 
tary and Personal History, by General A. L. 
Long and General Marcus J. Wright, General 
Wolseley describes his personal acquaintance in 
1862 with that famous man, the great impression 
made by his graceful manner and profound intel- 
ligence, and concludes with the following para- 
graph : " When all the angry feelings roused 
by secession are buried with those which existed 
when the Declaration of Independence was writ- 
ten, when Americans can review the history of 
their last great rebellion with calm impartiality, 
I believe that all will admit that General Lee 
towered far above all men on either side in that 
struggle. I believe he will be regarded, not only 



APPENDIX. 399 

as tlie most prominent figure of the Confederacy, 
but as the great American of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, whose statue is well worthy to stand on an 
equal pedestal with that of Washington, and 
whose memory is equally worthy to be enshrined 
in the hearts of all his countrymen." 

As I happen to be one of the very few sur- 
vivors of the great Civil War in America who 
had a personal and professional acquaintance 
with the chief actors in that grand drama, I am 
compelled to join issue with General Wolseley 
in his conclusion, while willing to admit nearly 
all his premises. Though he is much my junior 
in years, I entertain for him the highest respect 
and admiration ; he has deservedly gained fame 
by deeds here in America, in South Africa, 
Egypt, and in Great Britain. His estimate of 
the men whom he has met in life will command 
large attention, but I trust his judgment in this 
case will not be accepted by the military world 
as conclusive and final. In all wars, in all con- 
troversies, there are two sides, and the old 
Roman maxim applies, ^^ Atcdz alterem partem.^'' 

England has so long been accustomed to shape 



400 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

and mould the public opinion of our race, tliat 
her authors, critics, and officials seem to forget 
that times are changing, have changed. The 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 
contained in 1880 only thirty-six millions of 
inhabitants, with an area of 121,571 square miles ; 
whereas the United States of America had fifty 
millions of people, with 3,602,990 square miles 
of territory. Great Britain is crowded, whereas 
in our vast interior there still remains land 
enough for three hundred millions of inhabitants. 
All of these are taught the English language, 
believe in the Bible, Shakespeare, Milton, Wal- 
ter Scott, Dickens, Thackeray and Tennyson; 
all read English magazines, periodicals, and 
newspapers, and have a way of thinking for 
themselves. They have had twenty-one years 
for thought and reflection since the smoke and 
confusion of battle obscured the horizon, and 
have settled down to the conclusion that Abra- 
ham Lincoln was the great civil hero of the war, 
and that Ulysses S. Grant was the chief military 
hero. 

We all admit that General Robert E. Lee was, 



APPENDIX. 401 

in the highest acceptation of the term, " a gentle- 
man and a soldier." He did not graduate at the 
head of his class at West Point, as stated by 
General Wolseley, for Holluni's Register shows 
that Charles Mason, of New York, afterwards of 
Iowa, was No. i of the date of 1829 ; that Rob- 
ert E. Lee, of Virginia, was No. 2, and that 
Joseph E. Johnston, also of Virginia, was No. 13 
in that class of forty-six members. Lee was 
very handsome in person, gentle and dignified in 
manner, cool and self-possessed in the midst of 
confusion and battle, not seeking strife, but equal 
to it when it came, and the very t3^pe of man- 
hood which would impress itself on the young 
enthusiast. General Wolseley. That special 
phase of his character which General Wolseley 
thinks a '' weakness," his invariable submission 
to the President of the Southern Confederacy, is 
probably better understood on this than the 
other side of the Atlantic, where from childhood 
to manhood is impressed on us the old funda- 
mental doctrine that the pen is mightier than 
the sword, and that the military must be subor- 
dinate to the civil authority. A coup d^etat in 
26 



402 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN, 

this country wonld excite a general laugh, and I 
confess to a feeling of pride that at no period of 
our history has the idea of a military dictator 
found permanent lodgment in the brain of an 
American soldier or statesman. Mr. Lincoln, in 
assigning General Hooker to the command of 
the Army of the Potomac, wrote him, under date 
of January 26th, 1863, " I have heard in such a 
way as to believe it, of your recently saying that 
both the army and the Government needs a dic- 
tator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite 
of it, that I have given you the command. Only 
those generals who gain successes can set up 
dictators. What I ask of you is military suc- 
cess, and I will risk the dictatorship." 

General Lee was a typical American, and 
knew that the Southern States could only suc- 
ceed in forming an independent nation by 
united action under a President armed with 
both military and civil functions, and he was 
unquestionabl};- right in subordinating his con- 
duct to the head of the government which he had 
chosen and undertaken to support and defend. 

Before entering upon the analysis of his mil- 



APPENDIX, 403 

itary character and deeds, permit me to digress 
somewhat. General Wolseley constantly refers 
to the Revolutionary War of 1776 as similar 
to that of our Rebellion of 1861. They were 
as different as two things could possibly be. 
In the first our fathers most humbly and per- 
sistently petitioned the Parliament of Great 
Britain for the simple and common rights con- 
ceded to every Englishman ; they were denied 
and repelled with a harshness and contumely 
which no British community of to-day would 
tolerate. They rebelled because they were de- 
nied the common inheritance of their race . 
and when they had achieved independence they 
first undertook for themselves a government 
which was a ''Confederacy of States," and which 
proved impracticable. Then, after years of hard 
experience, in 1789 the}^ adopted the present 
Constitution of the United States, w^hich in its 
preamble, sets forth clearl}^: "We, the people 
of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect Union^ do ordain this Constitution, etc." 
This was not a contract between ''Sovereign 
States," but a decree of the aggregate people 



404 LIFE OF GENERAL IVM. T. SHERMAN. 

of the whole United States. Now, on the other 
hand, there was a fair election in November, 
i860, for a President under that Constitution. 
The Southern people freely participated in that 
election. After they were fairly beaten, and 
Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, was duly elected, 
some of the Southern leaders, delving back into 
the old abstractions of 1776-1789, revived this 
doctrine of State Allegiance: that a man hap- 
pening to be born in a State (an accident he 
could not control) his allegiance became due 
thereby to that State, and not to the aggrega- 
tion of States, the Union. I have too high an 
opinign of General Robert E. Lee to believe 
that he could have been humbugged by such 
shallow doctrine. No ! many of us believe that 
Lee, in 1861, saw and felt the approaching hor- 
rors and tortures of a civil war, resigned his 
commission in the army, hoped to hide away; 
first declined service in the so-called Confeder- 
acy, and accepted temporary service to defend 
Virginia, his native State; but, being possessed 
of large qualities, he was importuned, dragooned 
and forced to ^^go in," to drift over the Niagara 



APPENDIX. 405 

wHicli was inevitable, and wliicli lie must Have 
foreseen. His letter of April 2otli, 1861, ad- 
dressed to Lieutenant-General Scott, is in that 
direction: "Since my interview with you on the 
1 8th instant, I have felt that I ought no longer 
to retain my commission in the army. I there- 
fore tender my resignation, which I request you 
will recommend for acceptance. It would have 
been presented at once but for the struggle it 
has cost me to separate myself from the serv- 
ice to which I have devoted all the best years 
of my life, and all the ability I possessed. 
During the whole of that time — more than a 
quarter of a century— I have experienced noth- 
ing but kindness from my superiors, and the 
most cordial friendship from my comrades. To 
no one, General, have I been so much indebted 
as to yourself for uniform kindness and con- 
sideration, and it has always been my ardent 
desire to merit your approbation. I shall carry 
to the grave the most grateful recollections of 
your kind consideration, and your name and 
fame will always be dear to me. Save in de- 
fense of my State, I never desire to draw my 



406 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

sword. Be pleased to accept my most earnest 
wishes for the continuance of your happiness 
and prosperity." His resignation w^as not ac- 
cepted until April 25th, 1861 (Townsend, p. 31). 

Yet, on the 23d day of the same April, he 
issued his general orders No. i from his head- 
quarters in Richmond, Virginia: 

^'In obedience to orders from his Excellency 
John Letcher, Governor of the State, Major- 
General Robert E. Lee assumes command of 
the military and naval forces of Virginia." 

To us in the United States of America this 
seems a sudden descent from the sublime to 
the ridiculous. Virginia had neither an army 
or navy, and such were forbidden to States by 
the Constitution which Lee had often sworn to 
maintain. (Article i. Section 10.) 

I have before me, in print, another letter, dated 
Arlington, Va., April 20th, 1861, addressed ^^My 
dear Sister," and signed '^ R. E. Lee," reciting 
that "the whole South is in a state of revolution, 
into which Virginia, after a long struggle, has 
been drawn, and though I recognize no neces- 
sity for this state of things, and would have 



APPENDIX, 407 

foreborn and pleaded to the end for redress of 
grievances, real or supposed, yet in my own 
person I had to meet the question whether I 
would take part against my native State. With 
all my devotion to the Union, and the feeling 
of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I 
have not been able to make up my mind to 
raise my hand against my relatives, my chil- 
dren, my home. I have therefore resigned my 
commission in the army, and, save in defence 
of my native State^ with the hope that my poor 
services will never be needed, I hope I never 
may be called on to draw my sword. I know 
you will blame me, but you must think as 
kindly of me as you can, and believe that 
I have endeavored to do wdiat I thought 
right.'' . . . 

Now, at these dates, April 20th and 23d, 1861, 
the State of Virginia had not yet concluded 
^'secession." According to McPherson, page 7, 
the convention in secret session adopted, April 
17th, an ordinance of secession, but on April 
25th that same convention adopted and ratified 
the Constitution of the Provisional Government 



408 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

of the Confederate States of America, "this or- 
dinance to cease to have legal eifect if the peo- 
ple voting on the ordinance of secession slionld 
reject it." The actnal vote did not take place 
till Jnne 25th, — 128,884 for secession and 32,134 
against it. How far Lee's defection had aided 
to create this majority is still the qnestion. 
(See "Twenty Years in Congress," Blaine, Vol. 
I, page 302.) 

We all sympathize with the struggles of a 
strong man in the toils of other ambitious men, 
of less principle, who had use for Lee in their 
contemplated conspiracy. At that date there 
was a Virginia claiming sovereignty and the 
constitutional right to secede; but there was 
also a Confederacy embracing many States 
already in rebellion. Lee unquestionably took 
the oath to Virginia and the command of her 
" army and navy," then a myth, but it is a 
popular belief that he never took the oath of 
allegiance to the "Confederacy," although when 
General Johnston was wounded and disabled at 
"Fair Oaks," June ist, 1862, General Lee did 
succeed him, and did command the Army of 



APPENDIX, 409 

Northern Virginia under the Confederate Gov- 
ernment till the end at Appomattox. 

His sphere of action was, however, local. He 
never rose to the grand problem which involved 
a continent and future generations. His Vir- 
ginia was to him the world. Though familiar 
with the geography of the interior of this great 
continent, he stood like a stone wall to defend 
Virginia against the ''Huns and Goths" of the 
North, and he did it like a valiant knight, as 
he was. He stood at the front porch battling 
with the flames whilst the kitchen and house 
were burning, sure in the end to consume the 
whole. Only twice — at Antietam and Gettys- 
burg — did he venture outside on the " offensive 
defensive." In the first instance he knew per- 
sonally his antagonist, and that a large fraction 
of his force would be held in reserve; in the 
last he assumed the bold ''offensive," was badly 
beaten by Meade, and forced to retreat back to 
Virginia. As an aggressive soldier Lee was 
not a success, and in war that is the true and 
proper test. "Nothing succeeds like success." 
In defending Virginia and Richmond he did 



410 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

all a man could, but to liim Virginia seemed 
the "Confederacy," and lie stayed there whilst 
the Northern armies at the West were gaining 
the Mississippi, the Tennessee, the Cumberland, 
Georgia, South and North Carolina — yea, the 
Roanoke, after which his militar}^ acumen taught 
him that further tarrying in Richmond was ab- 
solute suicide. 

Such is the military hero which General 
Wolseley would place in monument side by side 
with Washington, "the father of his country — 
First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts 
of his countr3mien." All that is good in the 
character of Gen. Robert E. Lee is ours, and we 
will cherish it, and will be charitable to his weak- 
nesses, but so long as the public record tells of 
U. S. Grant and George H. Thomas, we cannot 
be at a loss for heroes for whom to erect monu- 
ments like those of Nelson and Wellington in 
London, well worthy to stand side by side with 
the one which now graces our capitol city of 
"George Washington." 

In 1 86 1 General Lee was a colonel of cavalry, 
on leave of absence at his home at Arlington, 



APPENDIX. 411 

and U. S. Grant was an humble citizen of Ga- 
lena, Illinois, toiling to support His family. He 
at first gave little heed to the political murmurs 
creeping over the land by reason of the election 
of Mr. Lincoln, and the talk of secession at the 
South ; but when the telegraph announced that 
the United States flag had been fired on in 
Charleston Harbor, he roused up, presided at a 
public meeting of his fellow-citizens, instructed 
them how to organize themselves into a com- 
pany of soldiers, and v/ent along with them to 
Springfield. In due time he was made colonel 
of a regiment of volunteers, conducted it to Mis- 
souri, and in December, 1861, reached Cairo, 
Illinois. His career from that day to this is 
familiar to every school-boy in the land. He 
moved, in co-operation with the gun-boat fleet, 
up the Tennessee to Fort Henry, which was 
captured; to Fort Donelson, where a fortified 
place, with its entire garrison of 17,000 men, 
surrendered without conditions ; then on to Shi- 
loh, where one of the bloodiest and most suc- 
cessful battles of the war was fought, which first 
convinced our Southern brethren, who had been 



412 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

tauglit tliat one Soutliern man was equal to five 
Yankees, tliat man to man was all they wanted ; 
then Vicksburg, Chattanooga, — everywhere vic- 
torious, everywhere successful, fulfilling the wise 
conclusion of Mr. Lincoln, that he wanted ''mil- 
itary success.'^ Then he was called, for the first 
time in his life, to Washington, to command an 
army of perfect strangers, under new conditions 
and in a strange country. Casting his thoughts 
over a continent, giving minute instructions for 
several distinct armies from the Potomac to the 
Rio Grande, himself assuming the hardest share, 
he began a campaign equal in strategy, in logis- 
tics and in tactics to any of Napoleon, and 
grander than any ever contemplated by Eng- 
land. His personal action in crossing the Rapi- 
dan in the face of Lee's army, fighting him in 
the Wilderness, " forward by the left flank " to 
Spottsylvania, to Richmond and Petersburg, was 
the sublimity of heroism. Of course, he had a 
superiority of numbers and resources, but noth- 
ing like the disproportion stated by General 
Wolseley. At Vicksburg he began in May, 
1863, the movement with less numbers than 



APPENDIX. 413 

Pemberton surrendered to him along with Vicks- 
burg in July. At Chattanooga he attacked his 
enemy in the strongest position possible ; so 
strong, indeed, that Bragg, a most thorough and 
intelligent soldier, regarded it as unassailable, 
and had detached Longstreet's corps to Knox- 
ville, of which mistake Grant took prompt ad- 
vantage, and I never heard before that Bragg 
thought the pursuit after his defeat was not 
quick and good enough to suit him; and, finally, 
when Lee was forced to flee from his intrench- 
ments at Richmond and Petersburg by Sheri- 
dan's bold and skillful action at Five Forks, I 
believe it is conceded that the pursuit by Sheri- 
dan and Grant was so rapid that Lee was com- 
pelled to surrender his whole army. Grant's 
^'strategy" embraced a continent; Lee's, a small 
State. Grant's '' logistics " were to supply and 
transport armies thousands of miles, where Lee 
was limited to hundreds. Grant had to conquer 
natural obstacles as well as hostile armies, and 
a hostile people ; his '' tactics " were to fight 
wherever and whenever he could capture or crip- 
ple his adversar}^ and his resources ; and when 



414 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

Lee laid down his arms and surrendered, Grant, 
by tlie stroke of his pen, on the instant gave 
him and his men terms so liberal as to disarm 
all criticism. Between these two men as gene- 
rals I will not institute a comparison ; for the 
mere statement of the case establishes a con- 
trast. 

I offer another name more nearly resembling 
General Lee in personal characteristics, — Gen- 
eral George H. Thomas, probably less known in 
England, but who has a larger following and 
holds a higher place in the hearts and a^ffections 
of the American people than General Lee. He, 
too, was a Virginian, and when Lee resigned 
from the army in 1861, Thomas succeeded him 
as colonel of the Second Regular Cavalry. A 
graduate of West Point of the Class of 1840, 
who had served his country in the Florida War, 
in the Mexican War, and in campaigns against 
hostile Indians, rising with honor and credit 
through all the grades, at each stage taking the 
usual oath to defend the United States against 
all her enemies whatsoever, foreign and domes- 
tic. When the storm of civil war burst on our 



APPENDIX, , 415 

country, unlike Lee, lie resolved to stand by his 
oath and to fight against his native State, to 
maintain the common union of our fathers. In 
personal appearance he resembled George Wash- 
ington, the father of our country, and in all the 
attributes of manhood he was the peer of Gen- 
eral Lee, — as good, if not a better soldier, of 
equal intelligence, the same kind heart, beloved 
to idolatry by his Army of the Cumberland, 
exercising, a gentle, but strict discipline, never 
disturbed by false rumors or real danger, not 
naturally aggressive, but magnificent on the de- 
fensive ; almost the very counterpart of his 
friend. General Lee, but far excelling him in the 
moral and patriotic line of action at the begin- 
ning of the war. Lee resigned his commission 
when civil war was certain; but Thomas re- 
mained true to his oath and his duty, always, 
to the very last minute of his life. 

During the whole war his services were tran- 
scendent, winning the first substantial victory at 
Mill Springs in Kentucky, January 20th, 1862, 
participating in all the campaigns of the west in 
1862-3-4, and finally, December i6th, 1864, 



416 UFE OF GENERAL IVM, T. SHERMAN. 

annihilatiug the army of Hood, whicli in mid- 
winter had advanced to Nashville to besiege him. 
In none of these battles will General Wolseley 
pretend there was such inequality of numbers as 
he refers to in the East. 

I now quote from General Garfield's eloquent 
tribute of respect to his comrade and commander, 
General George H. Thomas, addressed to the 
Army of the Cumberland at Cleveland, Ohio, on 
the 25th of November, 1870, shortly after the 
General's death, which tribute has gone into 
recorded history, never to be effaced : 

" When men shall read the history of battles 
they will never fail to study and admire the work 
of Thomas during that afternoon at Chicka- 
mauga, September 20th, 1863. With but twenty- 
five thousand men, formed in a semi-circle, of 
which he, himself, was the centre and soul, he 
successfully resisted for more than five hours the 
repeated assaults of an army of sixty-five thou- 
sand men, flushed with victory and bent on his 
annihilation. 

" Towards the close of the day his ammuni- 
tion began to fail. One by one of his division 



APPENDIX. 417 

commanders reported but ten rounds, five rounds, 
and two rounds left. The calm quiet answer was 
returned, ^ Save 3^our fire ior close quarters, and 
when your last shot is fired give them the bay- 
onet.' On a portion of this line the last assault 
was repelled by the bayonet, and several hundred 
rebels were captured. When night had closed 
over the combatants, the last sound of battle w^as 
the booming of Thomas' shells bursting among 
his baffled and retreating assailants. 

" He was indeed the Rock of Chickamauga, 
against which the wild waves of battle dashed in 
vain. It wall stand forever in the annals of his 
country that there he saved from destruction the 
Army of the Cumberland. He held the road to 
Chattanooga. The campaign was successful. 
The gate of the mountains was ours." 

Nashville, on the 15th and i6th of December, 
1864, was General Thomas' most important bat- 
tle, where he was in supreme command — of 
which General Garfield says : 

"' Nashville was the only battle of our war 

which annihilated an army. Hood crossed the 

Tennessee late in November, and moved north- 
27 



418 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

ward witH an army of fifty-seven thousand vet- 
erans. Before the end of December twenty-five 
thousand of that number were killed, wounded, 
or captured. Thousands more had deserted, and 
the rabble that followed him back to the South 
v/as no longer an army. 

'' In summing up the qualities of General 
Thomas it is difficult to find his exact parallel in 
history. His character as a man and a soldier 
was unique. In some respects he resembled 
Zachary Taylor, and many of his solid qualities 
as a soldier were developed by his long service 
under that honest and sturdy soldier. 

" In patient attention to all the details of duty, 
in the thoroughness of organization, equipment, 
and discipline of his troops, and in the powerful 
grasp by which he held and wielded his army, he 
was not unlike, and fully equaled Wellington. 

" The language applied to the Iron Duke by 
the historian of the Peninsular War might al- 
most be for a description of Thomas. Napier 
says : ' He had his army in hand, keeping it with 
unmitigated labor, always in a fit state to march 
or to fight. Sometimes he was indebted to for- 



APPENDIX. 419 

tune, sometimes to liis natural genius, always to 
his untiring industry ; for he was emphatically 
a painstaking man.' 

*' The language of Lord Brougham addressed 
to Wellington is a fitting description of Thomas : 

" ' Mighty Captain ! who never advanced ex- 
cept to cover his arms wath glory ; mightier Cap- 
tain ! who never retreated except to eclipse the 
glory of his advance.' 

" If I remember correctly, no enemy was ever 
able to fight Thomas out of any position he ever 
undertook to hold. 

'' On the whole, I cannot doubt that the most 
fitting parallel to General Thomas is found in 
our greatest American, the man who was ' first 
in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of 
his countrymen.' The personal resemblance of 
General Thomas to Washington was often the 
subject of remark. Even at West Point, Rose- 
crans was accustomed to call him General 
Washington. 

^' He resembled Washington in the gravity 
and dignity of his character, in the solidity of 
his judgment, in the careful accuracy of all his 



420 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

transactions, in the incorrnptible integrity, in 
liis extreme but unaffected modesty. 

" Thougli liis deatli was most sudden and un- 
expected, all his official papers and his accounts 
with Government were in perfect order and ready 
for instant settlement. His reports and official 
correspondence were models of pure style and 
full of valuable details. Even during the ex- 
citing and rapid campaign from Chattanooga to 
Atlanta, he recorded each month the number of 
rounds his men had fired, and other similar facts 
concerning the equipment and condition of his 
army. 

" His modesty was as real as his courage. 
When he was in Washington, in 1861, his friends 
with great difficulty persuaded him to allow him- 
self to be introduced to the House of Repre- 
sentatives. He was escorted to the Speaker's 
stand, while the great Assembly of Representa- 
tives and citizens arose and greeted him with the 
most enthusiastic marks of affection and rever- 
ence. Mr. Speaker Colfax, in speaking of it 
afterwards said: 

" ' I noticed, as he stood beside me, that his 



APPENDIX. 421 

hand trembled like an aspen leaf. He could 
bear tbe shock of battle, but he shrank from the 
storm of applause.' 

'' He was not insensible to praise ; and he was 
quick to feel any wrong or injustice. While 
grateful to his country for the honor it conferred 
on him, and while cherishing all expressions of 
affection on the part of his friends, he would not 
accept the smallest token of regard in the form 
of a gift. 

'' So frank and guileless was his life, so free 
from anything that approached intrigue, that 
when, after his death, his private letters and 
papers were examined, there was not a scrap 
among them that his most confidential friends 
thought best to destroy. 

" When Phidias was asked why he took so 
much pains to finish up the parts of his statue 
that would not be in sight, he said, ^ These I am 
finishing for the gods to look at.' In the life 
and character of General Thomas there were no 
secret places of which his friends will ever be 
ashamed. 

" But his career is ended. Struck dead at his 

1 



422 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

post of duty, a bereaved nation bore bis honored 
dust across the continent and laid it at rest on 
the banks of the Hudson amidst the grief 
and tears of millions. The nation stood at his 
grave as a mourner. No one knew till he was 
dead how strong was his hold on the hearts of 
the American people. Every citizen felt that a 
pillar of state had fallen, that a great and true 
and pure man had passed from earth. 

"There are no fitting words in which I may 
speak of the loss which every member of this 
society has sustained in his death. * 

"The General of the army has beautifully 
said in his order announcing the death of Gen- 
eral Thomas : 

" Though he leaves no child to bear his name, 
the old Army of the Cumberland, numbered by 
tens of thousands, called him father, and will 
weep for him in tears of manly grief. 

" To us, his comrades, he has left the rich 
legacy of his friendship. To his country and to 
mankind he has left his character and his fame 
as a priceless and everlasting possession. 



APPENDIX, 423 

" O iron nerve, to true occasion true ! 
O fallen at length that tower of strength, 
Which stood four-square to all the winds that blew ! 

His work is done, 
But while the races of mankind endure, 
Let his great example stand, 
Colossal sun of every land, 
And keep the soldier firm, the statesman pure, 
Till in all lands, and thro' all human story. 
The path of duty be the way to Glory." 

Sucli was the testimony of Garfield, who stood 
by his side amidst carnage and slaughter, the 
same Gen. James A. Garfield who afterwards was 
elected by an overwhelming majority of the 
American people to be their Chief Magistrate and 
President. 

Let me now quote from another equally dis- 
tinguished soldier and statesman, U. S. Grant, of 
world-wide fame. General Grant always mani- 
fested the greatest affection, love and respect for 
his senior in years and service. General Thomas, 
but just before the really great battle of Nash- 
ville, as critical and important to America as was 
that of Waterloo to Europe, General Grant, in Vir- 
ginia, having absolute command of all the armies 
of the Union, became impatient with what he 



424 LIFE OF GENERAL IVM. T. SHERMAN. 

thouglit ''slowness" on the part of Thomas. 
After several telegrams pro and con, he made a 
conditional order to supersede him, which never 
went into effect, because events fully justified 
Thomas. But on pages 295 and 296, Volume 2, 
of John Russell Young's "Around the World 
with General Grant" will be found: 

''This led to some talk about Thomas. The 
General (Grant) said: I yield to no man in my 
admiration of Thomas, He was a fine character, 
all things considered — his relations with the 
South, his actual sympathies and his fervent 
loyalt}^ — one of the finest characters of the war. 
I was fond of him, and it was a severe trial for 
me even to think of removing him. I mention 
that fact to show the extent of my own anxiety 
about Sherman and Hood. But Thomas was an 
inert man. It was this slowness that led to the 
stories that he meant to go with the South. 
When the war was coming Thomas felt like a 
Virginian, and talked like one, and had all the 
sentiment then so prevalent about the rights of 
slavery and sovereign States, and so on. But 
the more Thomas thought it over, the more he 



APPENDIX. 425 

saw tlie crime of treason behind it all, and to a 
mind as honest as that of Thomas, the crime of 
treason wonld soon appear* So by the time 
Thomas thought it all out, he was as passionate 
and angry in his love for the Union as any one. 
So he continued during the war. As a com- 
mander he was slow. We used to say, laugh- 
ingly, ' Thomas is too slow to move and too brave 
to run away.' The success of his campaign 
(Nashville) will be his vindication, even against 
my criticisms. 

"That success and all the fame that came with 
it belong to Thomas. When I wrote 'my final 
report at the close of the war I wrote fourteen or 
fifteen pages criticising Thomas, and my reasons 
for removing so distinguished a commander. But 
I suppressed that part. I have it among my pa- 
pers and mean to destro}^ it. I do not want to 
write anything that might even be construed into 
a reflection upon Thomas. We differed about the 
Nashville campaign, but there could be no differ- 
ence as to 'the effects of the battle. Thomas died 
suddenly, very suddenly. He was sitting in his 
office, I think, at Headquarters (San Francisco), 



426 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

when lie fell back unconscious. He never rallied. 
I remember Sherman coming to the White House 
in a state of deep emotion with a dispatch, say- 
ing, ^I am afraid old Tom is gone.' The news 
was a shock and a grief to us both. In an hour 
we learned of his death. The cause was fatty de- 
generation of the heart, I if remember. I have 
often thought that this disease, with him long- 
seated, may have led to the inertness which af. 
fected him as a commander. 

^'. . . I have no doubt, if the truth were 
known, the disease from which Thomas died de- 
manded from him constant fortitude, and affected 
his actions in the field. Nothing would be more 
probable. Thomas is one of the great names of 
our history, one of the greatest heroes of our war, 
a rare and noble character in every way worthy 
of his fame.'' 

In this same volume, pages 458-460, will be 
found General Grant's estimate of General Lee, 
told in the same informal, conversational style: 

^'I never ranked Lee as high as some others of 
the army — that is to say, I never had as much 
anxiety when he was in my front as when Joe 



APPENDIX. ■ ^"11 

Johnston was in front. Lee was a good man, a 
fair commander, wHo had everything in his favor. 
He was a man who needed snnshine. He was 
supported by the unanimous voice of the South, 
he was supported by a large party in the North. 
He had the support and sympathy of the outside 
world. All this is of immense advantage to a 
general. Lee had this in a remarkable degree. 
Everything he did was right. He was treated 
like a demi-god. Our generals had a hostile 
press, lukewarm friends and a public opinion 
outside. The cry was in the air that the North 
only won by brute force, that the generalship 
and valor w^ere with the South. This has gone 
into history with so many other illusions that 
are historical. Lee was of a slow, conservative, 
cautious nature, without imagination or humor, 
always the same, with grave dignity. I never 
could see in his achievements what justifies his 
reputation. The illusion that nothing but heavy 
odds beat him will not stand the ultimate light 
of history. I know it is not true. Lee was a 
good deal of a headquarters general, a desk gen- 
eral from what I can hear, and from what his 



428 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

officers say. He was almost too old for active 
service — the best service in tlie field. At the 
time of the surrender he was fifty-eight or fifty- 
nine, and I was forty-three. His officers used to 
say that he posed himself, that he was retiring 
and exclusive, and that his headquarters were 
difficult of access." 

Many of us believe that, had Lee stood firm 
in 1 86 1, and used his personal influence, he 
could have stayed the Civil War, and thereby 
saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of the 
fairest youth of the land, and thousands of mil- 
lions of dollars in cost and destruction ; but 
since the public mind has settled to the conclu- 
sion that the institution of slavery was so inter- 
woven in our system that nothing but the inter- 
position of Providence and horrid war could have 
eradicated it, and now that it is in the distant 
past, and that we as a nation, North and South, 
East and West, are the better for it, we believe 
that the war was worth to us all it cost in life 
and treasure. We who fought on the right side 
are perfectly willing to let this conclusion re- 
main ; but when the question of honor to the 



APPENDIX. 429 

memory of our dead Heroes is raised at home or 
abroad, we will fight with pen and speech to se- 
cure for our Grant, Thomas, Meade, McPherson, 
Hancock, Mower, Logan, Blair and a hundred 
others who were true and faithful, brave and 
competent, every honor a nation can afford to 
bestow. 

I know full well that it was the fashion in 
England, during the dark days of our Rebellion, 
to consider the leaders at the South as heroes 
contending for freedom, for home and fireside, 
whereas we of the North were invaders, barba- 
rians, " Huns and Goths," rude and unlettered. 
This was not true ; and every American may, 
with pride and satisfaction, turn to Mr. Lincoln's 
first inaugural address ; to the glorious uprising 
of our whole people, who had been engaged in 
peaceful pursuits, to assume the novel character 
of soldier; whose leaders emerged from the great 
mass by the process of nature ; who gradually, 
from books and actual experience, learned the 
science of war, and so applied its rules as to sub- 
due a rebellion against the national authority 
by one-third of our people,— a feat never before 



4o0 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

accomplislied on eartli ; who, at the conclusion 
of hostilities, granted terms to the vanquished 
so generous and magnanimous as to command 
the admiration of mankind, and then quietly 
returned to their homes to resume their old oc- 
cupations of peace. England, and even some of 
our Eastern States, seem not to realize that the 
strength of our country lies west of the Alle- 
ghenies. They still see only the war in Vir- 
ginia, and, at furthest, Gettysburg. The Civil 
War was concluded when Vicksburg, Chatta- 
nooga and Atlanta fell. After these it only re- 
mained to dispose of Lee's army, which was 
promptly and scientifically done. Had General 
Wolseley met General Thomas at Chattanooga 
in 1864, his quick, discerning mind would have 
reached another conclusion. He would have 
doubted whether a single corps of English 
troops, with the best staff which Aldershot turns 
out, could have turned the scale after the year 
1862. 

Of all governments on earth, England is the 
last to encourage rebellion against lawful au- 
thorityj and, of all men in England, General 



APPENDIX. 431 

Lord Wolseley is the last wlio should justify 
and uphold treason. Ireland, to-day, has many 
times the cause to rebel against England which 
the South had in 1861 ; and when some future 
Emmet manifests the transcendent qualities 
which scintillate and sjDarkle in the Irish char- 
racter, and some enthusiastic American applauds 
him, and awards him national honors, then will 
General Wolseley, or his successor in ofBce, un- 
derstand the feelings of us in America, who, 
though silent, watch the world's progress toward 
the conclusion in which truth and justice must 
stand triumphant over treachery and wrong. 

When the time comes to award monuments 
for service in the Civil War, the American' peo- 
ple will be fully prepared to select the subjects 
without hint or advice from abroad. 

W. T. Sherman. 



432 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 



OUR ARMY AND MILITIA. 

TIj^IFTY years ago, when I was a cadet at West 
Point, a bright young lad came from his 
fond parents, as fresh and innocent as a lamb, 
duly appointed to dedicate his life to the glorious 
cause of his country, and to receive the necessary 
instruction at that national school. He passed 
through the usual ordeal of admission, and at a 
suitable moment applied to the commandant of 
the new cadets with the question, "What must I 
do to excel in my profession?" He received the 
blunt answer, "Obey orders." The sequel was 
that he graduated in the following January, went 
back to his home, studied law, rose in his profes- 
sion, and became a judge in one of the United 
States courts in a western territory. 

There is no doubt that to " obey orders" is a 
large factor in the problem of military life, because 
subordination to law^ful authority is the bond which 



APPENDIX, 433 

holds together the parts which compose all armies, 
and makes them powerful instruments for good 
deeds; but something more is required. There 
must be some to give orders; and it is for these 
that instruction is chiefly needed. 

In every profession is found an epitome of the 
knowledge requisite for success. Every religious 
denomination furnishes a ''vade mecum''' which 
teaches the believer what he must do to be saved ; 
but the military profession offers only the articles 
of war, which amount to "You'll be damned if you 
do, and you'll be damned if you don't" — nothing 
to answer my friend's inquiry what he should do 
to excel in his profession. The task is a difficult 
one ; yet it must be undertaken, and military men 
should undertake It, because it is their exclusive 
business. 

There can be no question that recorded history 
illustrates the science of war better than any ab- 
stract treatise, because what men have done in the 
past they may do again, and every army contem- 
plates the use of physical force to achieve some 
result at the least cost of life and treasure and 

with the largest promise of success ; but the study 

28 



434 LIFE OF GENERAL JVM. T. SHERMAN. 

of recorded history is too long, too complicated 
and massive, to be undertaken by the common 
officer or soldier ; therefore condensation is nec- 
essary, if not imperative. 

Say what you may of the immortal part, man is 
at best an intellectual and combative animal, and 
the history of the world is chiefly made up of 
wars — conflicts of self-interest or opinion. The 
Bible on which is founded modern religion — 
— "Peace on earth and good- will to men" — re- 
cords the deeds of military heroes, of bloody bat- 
tles and fearful slaughter ; and subsequent histo- 
ries are full of war, its deeds and alarms. Yet 
philosophy and experience teach that each century 
has brought about an amelioration. Statesmen, 
lawyers and doctors of all degrees find germs of 
the modern professions in the examples of Greece 
and Rome; while many good soldiers believe that 
brave men and skillful generals " lived before 
Agamemnon," and find in the Greek phalanx and 
Roman legion the counterparts of the modern 
battalion and corps d'ar^nee. 

My own reading and experience, however, con- 
vince me that modern governments and modern 



APPENDIX. 435 

armies have their origin in the so-called dark or 
middle ages, between the downfall of the Roman 
Empire and the discovery of America — a period 
of a thousand years of fermentation, resulting in 
great good to the masses of mankind. Students 
of the military profession may therefore safely 
besfin with the chronicles of the middle aees, 
"England, France, Spain, and Adjoining Coun- 
tries," 1 320-1 461, by Sir John Froissart — a book 
of world-wide renown, which is filled with graphic 
accounts of the deeds of the kni^hts-errrant, and 
from which Walter Scott has drawn largely in his 
" Ivanhoe" and "Quentin Durward." Froissart's 
"Chronicles" are more valuable to the military 
student by reason of the faithful description of the 
habits, customs, and thoughts of that period than 
for the records of individual feats of arms ; and 
from them can be traced many of the usages and 
customs which now prevail in all armies. 

Gunpowder was known to the Chinese as early 
as the year 80 of the Christian era, and the know- 
ledge of Its destructive powers passed to India, 
Persia, and Africa, whence the Moors carried It 
into Spain and used it in sieges as early as 1238, 



436 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

though the world generally gives to Berthold 
Schwartz, of Germany, the credit of its discovery 
about 1330. 

The battle of Crecy, August, 1346, between the 
English and French, marks the first recorded use 
of gunpowder in a field batde; it enabled a few 
thousand English to rout and destroy four- fold 
their own number of valiant knights, and absolute- 
ly revolutionized the whole art of war as then 
practiced. Among the first instruments used 
were cannon, smooth-bores and breech-loaders, 
soon followed by the arquebus and rampart gun 
with a tripod, or "rest," fired from the shoulder, 
with a pad to distribute the shock. The bullets, 
or projectiles, were of stone, iron, lead, or some 
other metal, samples of which are common in 
the arsenals of Europe and America. 

At all events, in that century the knight in steel 
armor, with bow, lance, and spear, gave place to 
the musketeer, and the barons with their retainers 
made way for the regular captains, lieutenants, 
sergeants, corporals, and privates, all bound by 
oath to serve their sovereign for specific periods, 
and with regular pay and allowances. 



APPENDIX. 437 

In that epoch of transition there lived in 
Europe great men, great statesmen, great 
scholars, great soldiers. I need recall no name 
other than that of Shakespeare, who lived in 
England from 1564 to 1616, whose knowledge of 
the human heart and brain, and whose compre- 
hension of the motives which impel human action 
have never been equaled in these modern times, 
with all their inventions and all their professions 
of superior knowledge. Shakespeare referred to 
gunpowder in his "Henry IV.," wherein he makes 
Harry Percy say (Part I., Act I., Scene 3): 

" It was great pity, so it was, 
That villanous saltpetre should be digg'd 
Out of the bowels of the harmless earth. 
Which many a good tall fellow had destroy'd 
So cowardly ; and but for these vile guns, 
He would himself have been a soldier." 

If any of the present generation flatter themselves 
that they are better and wiser than their ances- 
tors, let them read Shakespeare; also the second 
chapter of Dr. Draper's "Intellectual Develop- 
ment of Europe," Volume II., wherein it is de- 
monstrated that learned Moors broucrht algebra 



438 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

and the mathematical sciences into Spain centur- 
ies before Columbus was born, had measured on 
the shores of the Red Sea the exact length of a 
degree of the earth's merldan and the obliquity 
of the ecliptic, and knew enough of astronomy 
to prove the rotundity of the earth. While the 
professors of England, France, Italy and Germany 
were teaching that the earth's surface was flat, 
the Spanish Moors were teaching geography In 
their common schools from globes. Nevertheless, 
the modern world was not yet ready for the 
refined, superior civilization of the Asiatics. 

In the fifteenth century occurred three great 
events — the application of gunpowder to the uses 
of war; the invention of printing; and the prac- 
tical discovery of America. Gunpowder gave 
rise to the modern science of war; printing to 
the universal dissemination of knowledge; and 
America gave room for the then overcrowded, 
discontented, and adventurous population of 
Europe. Out of that chaotic period the present 
states of Europe crystallized, resulting In clearly- 
defined boundaries of territory, the population of 
each state similar In lancruao^e, manners and cus- 



APPENDIX. 439 

toms, and each governed by a sovereign, a parlia- 
ment and a judiciary. 

The reign of Louis XIV, of France, ''le grand 
monarque^ 1 638-1 715, was rich in brilliant men 
and great events. Two famous soldiers, the 
Prince of Conde and Turenne, graced this period. 
The former has left us some wise advice, which 
may well be pondered by every young officer and 
soldier: 

"There are some things which a young man is 
absolutely obliged to know when first he goes to 
the wars, and some others which he may be 
ignorant of without any reflection upon his honor. 
He must know he Is bound to respect all his 
superiors, to be civil to his equals, to be courteous 
to all officers, and to have charity for all those 
under his command. But this charity must not 
extend so far as to slacken in obliging them to 
perform their duty to the full, for he can never be 
too severe on that point. The knowledge of 
these matters will prevent his falling Into many 
errors. He cannot fail in point of respect to his 
superiors without being reprimanded, and perhaps 
punished, because all generals take care that 



440 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. { 

every man have his due, not according to his own 
birth, but to his post. Therefore a young gentle- 
man must not think that because he is of great 
quaUty he can pay the less respect to a soldier of 
fortune; he will never be in the wrong in giving 
him all manner of honor, and should he fail in 
that particular, he will be compelled to it. In the 
next place, if he is civil to his equals, all men will 
value him, for civility wins the heart, whereas 
everybody hates pride. Thirdly, if he is courtly 
to all the officers, they will all speak well of him, 
and he may hope to advance his fortune that way, 
as well as by his brave action ; reputation in war 
being as necessary as any other thing. Lastly, if 
he has charity for all under his command, he must 
certainly be beloved, which will be no small ad- 
vantage to him, for soldiers never forsake an 
officer diey love upon action ; and he gains much 
honor by their sticking close to him ; whereas 
those who are hated by their men are often 
abandoned by them, and thus shamefully dis- 
graced, soldiers sometimes preferring their re- 
venge before their honor. 

" As for the lieutenant, he ought to know full as 



APPENDIX. 441 

much as a captain, his duty being ahnost the same. 
He is often detached to command a party in chief, 
or a guard that might be a captain's, and, having 
nobody there to advise with, he must have exper- 
ience ; for, wanting it, the consequences may be 
fatal. I have seen Heutenants committed to the 
provost for having behaved themselves like mere 
noviges in the fight. Therefore I would never 
advise a yonng man to be a lieutenant at first, 
because, being a lieutenant, there will not be so 
much connivance towards him as if he was a 
cornet. Besides, all the troops depend on him 
and the quartermaster ; so that if the troopers 
once discover his weakness, which certainly they 
will, they will neither value nor respect h?m ; and 
it were better for him to be no officer than to be 
so contemned. Besides, his ill name will soon 
spread throughout the whole army, the common 
discourse of troopers being about their officers, 
whom they extol to the very skies if they value 
them, and run them down as fast if they under- 
value them. In short, if a man would have an 
accountof any officer, he need only set his troopers' 
tongues a running upon that subject, and they will 



442 LIFE OF GENERAL JVM. T. SHERMAN. 

tell him all the good or harm they know with 
unspeakable ingenuity." 

In 1779 was published in America the volume 
of Baron Steuben's tactics, which contains the 
manual of arms for our Revolutionary Army. 
The musket was then a flint-lock muzzle-loader, 
with single ball or ball and buckshot, effective at 
about one hundred yards, with a recoil as danger- 
ous to the soldier as the object aimed at. For 
firing and loading the commands were, the musket 
being loaded and at a shoulder : " Poise fire-lock : 
Cock fire-lock: Take aim : Fire." " Half cock 
fire-lock : Handle cartridge : Prime : Shut pan : 
Charge with cartridge : Draw rammer : Ram 
down cartridge: Return rammer: Shoulder fire- 
lock." 

Up to 1840 we had the same old flint-lock, 
smooth-bore musket with paper certridges, and 
loaded by twelve commands : " Load : Open pan : 
Handle cartridore : Tear cartridore : Prime : Shut 
pan : Cast about : Charge cartridge : Draw ram- 
rod : Ram cartridore : Return ramrod : Shoulder 
arms." 

About 1845 the percussion cap, previously 



APPENDIX. 443 

used by sportsmen, was adapted to the smooth- 
bore muzzle-loader, and it was loaded in ''ten 
times " or motions ; gradually reduced to four 
motions, and finally to one : '* Load at will." 

Now, in 1890, every recruit knows that he can 
load his rifle and fire it from five to twenty times 
a minute, thereby exhausting his supply of sixty 
rounds in a few minutes, whereas as late as our 
Civil War forty rounds in the cartridge-box and 
twenty in the haversack were a full allowance for 
a day's fighting. To supply an army engaged in 
battle will henceforth tax the supply train, for it is 
well known that recruits measure a battle by its 
noise, whereas the veteran measures it by the 
effect; hence the increased value of experience. 
There are hundreds of most valuable patents for 
modern rifles ; and in this connection I will only 
venture the statement that the invention of the 
metallic cartridge was the parent of all, and that 
the mechanism of the breech is^of less importance 
than the accurate preparation of the barrel. 

Meantime, corresponding changes have oc- 
curred in cannon from the original bars of iron 
held in place by rings, to the mortar, howitzer, 



414 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

field and siege guns, sea-coast and naval guns, all 
of them rifled and some of them so heavy that 
steam or hydraulic power is required to load and 
fire them Armor plates of steel twenty inches 
thick are used to protect the vital parts of ships, 
and even the gunners. It seems to me that, no 
matter how powerful naval ,guns may be fabri- 
cated, our land guns, resting on the solid earth, 
can be built stronger, while steam and hydraulic 
power may raise the gun, fire with precision, and 
lower away behind the Invulnerable earth ; so that 
the old ratio is not changed, that five guns on land 
are equal to a hundred afloat. 

Anything which attempts to limit danger to per- 
son in war is a mistake. In my judgment, the 
engine of a man-of-war should be protected as 
far as possible by armor, but the fighting decks 
and bulwarks should be thin, so as to encourage 
the shot to go through as quickly as possible. The 
same of our sea-coast forts. A few twelve-inch 
rifles at the salients bearing on sea-channels, with 
steel casemates, an abundance of cheaper ten or 
fifteen-Inch barbette or embrasure guns, with 
spherical cast-Iron shot well handled, supple- 



APPENDIX, 445 

mented by entanglements and torpedoes, will 
make our chief seaports comparatively safe against 
any modern fleet. 

The progress made in naval and seacoast guns 
in the last twenty-five years has been very great, 
and the establishments for their manufacture have 
kept pace with the demand. These guns and 
this ammunition are very costly and will add 
largely to the expenditures of the next war. 
They also demand much time in their fabrication, 
and therefore a supply should be obtained and 
stored where needed. In like manner, field 
guns should be provided in advance and stored 
in the usual arsenals. A new army requires as 
many as six guns to a thousand men, but after 
experience these may be reduced to three or even 
one, as w^as the case in my long march from At- 
lanta to Raleigh in 1864-65. 

The cavalry of the world have probably passed 
through more transitions than the infantry and 
artillery. They are the Immediate successors to 
the knights templar. They have discarded the 
casque, cuirass, and coat of mail, rendered useless 
by the modern pistol and carbine, and they dress 



446 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN 

like other soldiers, only clinging to their horses 
and sabres. They take their place in line of 
battle usually on the flanks, often detached as 
" the eyes of the army." They can make a cir- 
cuit of forty or fifty miles a day, while the infantry 
and artillery plod their fifteen or twenty ; but in a 
march of a thousand miles, as is recorded of 
Alexander the Great, the infantry arrive first. A 
man is a more perfect animal than a horse. He 
can live on two pounds of food a day, whereas the 
horse and rider must have twenty ; therefore in 
all times, ancient and modern, the infantry have 
composed — and they will continue to compose— 
the great mass of all armies. The chief use of 
the cavalry in a modern army is to supply infor- 
mation ; to watch flank movements ; to fight on 
foot, and, when the enemy is In retreat, to pursue 
and gather the fruits of victory. 

Having thus rapidly sketched the three '* arms '' 
into which all modern armies are resolved, I now 
desire to give my readers the benefit of some per- 
sonal thoughts and experiences, in partial answer 
to the question, '' What must an army officer do 
to excel in his profession ? " 



APPENDIX. 447 

We all know what he must not do ; and the 
real question is what he should do. 

The army of the United States is older than 
the present government, some of the companies 
antedating the Revolutionary War. It has al- 
ways been officered by men of marked ability, 
whose examples are the precious inheritance of 
their successors. They have been the advance- 
guard in the settlement and civilization of this 
continent. Therefore I say to the young officer. 
Attend with scrupulous fidelity to the duties of 
the garrison or post to which you are assigned, 
with the assurance that these duties are based on 
the experience of your predecessors, as good 
men as yourselves, and no belter. The govern- 
ment provides the officer and soldier with reason- 
able liberality, so that they must not embark in 
trade, business, or speculation ; for a man cannot 
be a good soldier if his thoughts and interests are 
elsewhere. The condition of the junior officers 
and enlisted men of our army has been largely 
improved. They are better paid, better clad, have 
better food and infinitely better quarters, than 
fifty years ago. 



448 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN, 

There is no doubt that this world has been un- 
dero-oing a series of charges, physical and intel- 
lectual, according to some law not yet discovered, 
and that it is sometimes disturbed by aberrations 
such as happen to light, electricity, and the mo- 
tions of the planets ; yet generally the world moves, 
in a direction of " betterment." Nations, like in- 
dividuals, have had their birth, youth, manhood, 
old age and death ; to be succeeded by others 
with larger proportions, generally with better op- 
portunities to indulge in liberty of thought and 
action, the enjoyment of their inheritance and the 
fruits of their own labor. 

To this class of men the discovery of Amer- 
ica gave great stimulus, and the facility of 
spreading news by means of the art of printing 
made the exodus from Europe universal, result- 
ing in many colonies of every type and kind of 
people more or less independent of the States 
from which they had come and of each other ; yet 
all obeying the general law that like races come 
together for mutual protection and social advan- 
tage. 

Every army officer is now required to know 



APPENDIX, 449 

the history of his own country and of Its Institu- 
tions, of the colonies, of the War of Independence, 
the subsequent war with Great Britain, the Mex- 
ican War and the Civil War, all of which were 
conflicts of arms made necessary by social and 
political causes, all resulting in a step forward ; 
and he further knows that his country extends 
3,000 miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 1,000 
miles from the lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, 
wholly within the best latitudes for •civilization — 
latitudes producing the types of men of the 
largest physical and mental strength, possessing 
the largest measure of liberty ever enjoyed by 
any people on earth, and therefore most liable to 
civil convulsions. We have no personal sover- 
eign : our sovereignty remains with the people, 
whose will may be theoretically ascertained by 
fair means under a written constitution, symbol- 
ized by a common flag known the world over as 
the " Stars and Stripes," with the motto '' E Pluri- 
bus Unum " — one nation composed of forty-four 
States, each with exact boundaries, and with pow- 
ers as clearly defined as can be done by words. 
Under this system, though wrong may be 
29 



453 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

done to individuals and even to communities for a 
time, tyranny and oppression are impossible. 
With us, as with all other governments, monarchical 
or imperial, the actual administration is subdivi- 
ded into legislative, judicial and executive. These 
may at times create a conflict v^ith each other, 
but there is less liability of it with us than under 
any other form of government. Yet as every 
court must have its marshal or sheriff, so must 
every State a;nd the general government have an 
armed force to compel obedience to its decrees. 
On this branch of the subject there can be no 
better authority than the Constitution itself, the 
judgments of the Supreme Court, and the pre- 
cepts of Washington. 

Army officers cannot be expected to follow 
all the decisions of the Supreme Court, but they 
may easily master the two volumes of Bancroft's 
" History of the Formation of the Constitution of 
the United States," published in January, 1882, 
which describe with great precision the confusion 
which prevailed in the old Continental Congress 
during the Revolutionary War, the utter failure 
of the confederation of the thirteen colonies, with 



APPENDIX. 451 

all their Impracticable prejudices and diverse 
interests, and the final adoption of our present 
Constitution, of which Mr. Gladstone has written ; 
*' As the British Constitution Is the most subtile 
organism which has proceeded from progressve 
history, so the American Constitution is the most 
wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by 
the brain and purpose of man." 

By our Constitution the power to declare war, 
create an army or navy, make rules for the gov- 
ernment of the land and naval forces, call forth 
the militia, etc., is committed to the National 
Congress, and when these forces are called into 
the service of the United States, the President 
becomes the commander-in-chief thereof. Of 
course he cannot be expected to command in per- 
son a navy on the high seas or an army in the 
field : these duties must be committed to subor- 
dinates, and it is to these subordinates that I 
address this paper. 

During our Civil War many a young lieuten- 
ant became a colonel, brigadier, major-general, 
corps or army commander, in one, two and three 
years, without a book save the "Army Regula- 



452 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN, 

tlons ; " and hundreds, If not thousands, com- 
manded detachments, with power over Hfe and 
death, with Httle knowledge of the great laws of 
war. Of the valuable treatises on this subject I 
always prefer that of " The Rights of War and 
Peace," by Hugo Grotlus (born in Holland), 
translated Into English and published in London, 
1 738 — a book which ought to be found In every 
good library. Every army officer should make 
Grotius his text-book, just as every lawyer makes 
Coke and Blackstone his. 

In time of war the armies of the United States 
are rightfully and lawfully invested with extraor- 
dinary powers, always subject to the national 
government, and In time of peace, being 
composed of citizens, they are further sub- 
ject and subordinate to the civil code of 
the locality ; but when the storm comes, 
when Congress, the Supreme Court, and the 
President are defied. Insulted, and maligned, as 
occurred In 1861, then comes In that new, but 
long-existent, code of war; and it is to the Interestof 
every citizen of the United States that the army 
officers should be not only honest and patriotic, 



APPENDIX. 453 

but Intelligent and learned enough to understand 
the nature of the power thus imposed on them. 
No officer of the United States army has ever 
questioned or ever will question the fundamen- 
tal principles of our Constitution ; but when the 
Congress has declared war, has provided the 
ways and means, and the President, as constitu- 
tional commander-in-chief, has indicated the 
measures, then the soldier goes in with confidence 
to restore peace. Of these measures the com- 
manding officer on the spot must often be the sole 
judge. The law then becomes the law of war and 
not of peace. 

In this article I have purposely abstained 
from treating of general and staff officers. In 
my judgment, a good, well-managed garrison on 
the frontier, or anywhere, is the best possible 
school for generals, and even staff officers; and I 
shall regard it as a fatal mistake If the cavalry 
and artillery shall be withdrawn from the school of 
application at Fort Leavenworth, because the 
three arms of the service should be associated in 
daily duties, on drill, and on the march, so that 
when war compels them to be assembled in the 



454 



LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 



same army, as must inevitably be the case, their 
habits will be already established. Out of these 
will come the natural leaders, who can select the 
necessary staff or assistants. 

W. T. Sherman. 



APPENDIX, 455 



CAMP-FIRES OF THE G. A. R. 

A RECENT visit to Columbus, Ohio, Septem- 
ber 10-14, convinces me that the young 
people, male and female, of the interior of our 
country feel an increased interest in the events of 
the Civil War. 

I did believe, and may have so expressed my- 
self in former years, that the interest, enthusiasm 
and 6lan would die out with one or two genera- 
tions ; but not so. There were present at Co- 
lumbus as many ex-soldiers, their wives, children 
and families, as could have been assembled in 
1865; as many as forty thousand ex-soldiers and 
sixty thousand citizens, male and female, other 
than the resident population (eighty thousand) of 
that capital city. This is not a mere guess, but a 
professional estimate based on numbers and meas- 
urements made on the spot. The same or simi- 
lar results have been noted at Toledo, Indiana- 
polis, Springfield and St. Paul The people of the 



456 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

oreat Northwest, whose first centennial was in 
part the occasion of the recent meeting at Colum- 
bus, are more peculiarly American than similar 
crowds elsewhere, and give us one element of 
value in the problem of integral calculus for the 
" nexl centennial y 

I mingled with this crowd in halls, in great tents 
and on the streets — and though individuals took 
liberties with my hand and person not contem- 
plated by army regulations, I will bear witness 
that in the four days of my stay I did not hear a 
coarse word, see a single drunken man, or ob- 
serve any infraction of the common police regu- 
lations for crowds. I have known Columbus from 
boyhood, and am sure the people to-day are bet- 
ter and more refined than they were fifty years 
ago. In accomplishing this result the Civil War 
and the Grand Army of the Republic have been 
important factors; and in this paper I desire to 
invite public attention to one feature of the Grand 
Army of the Republic — its "camp-fire." The 
mere name suggests its object. Imagine a group 
of intelligent soldiers after night — the march done 
— supper over, and things put away for an early 



APPENDIX. 457 

Start — a clear sky above and a bright fire beneath, 
you have the perfection of human comfort, and 
the most perfect Incentive to good fellowship. Of 
course to make the scene more perfect there must 
enter the element of danger, but that Is now past, 
and the ''camp fire" of the Grand Army Is a 
mere assemblage of comrades absolutely on an 
equal footing, regardless of former rank, yet sub- 
ject to self-imposed discipline; the comrades may 
be seated round their hall or at tables, with the 
simplest and cheapest fare, when they sing their 
old war songs, tell their old war stories, or in the 
soldier's phrase "swap lies," and transact their 
business of "charity." Now at this very hour 
around their many camp-fires- are being spun the 
yarns which in time will be the warp and woof of 
history. For mathematical accuracy, one should 
go to the interesting tables of statistics compiled 
by adjutants-general, but for the living, radiant 
truth, commend me to the "camp-fire." My 
memory of camp-fires goes back to the everglades 
of Florida, and the days of the trappers in the 
Rockies and California, and people who suppose 
these men were rude, coarse and violent, are 



458 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

sadly mistaken. Roubideaux was the gentlest, 
least offensive man I ever saw; but if a thieving 
Pl-Ute tried at night to steal his picketed mule, 
he became a good, i. e., a dead Indian. Kit 
Carson always avoided danger, sometimes would 
go two or three days out of his course to avoid 
danger, but when It stared him In the face his eye 
was as clear as crystal, and his nerves as steady 
as forged steel. Carson was usually taciturn, 
but on occasions would "swap lies" with the most 
expert. F. X. Aubry was to me the most satis- 
factory, because with paper and pencil he could 
delineate the country passed over, and describe 
its features as to wood, water and grass, all that 
man and horse needed In those halcyon days. 
The Bents, Campbells and St. Vrain were traders 
of a higher type than the trappers. Of this latter 
class, Jim Bridger always at a camp-fire carried 
off the palm. One night after supper, when 
gathered round a real camp-fire on Bear Creek, a 
comrade Inquired: "Jim, were you ever down at 
ZunI?" "No! there are no beaver thar." "But, 
Jim, there are some things In this world besides 
beaver. I was down there last winter and saw 



APPENDIX, 459 

great trees with limbs and bark on, all turned Into 
stone." "Oh!" rejoined Jim, "them's called 
petrifactions; come with me to the Yellowstone 
next summer and I will show you petrified trees 
a-growing, with petrified birds singing petrified 
songs." Now, it so happens that I have been to 
the Yellowstone, have seen the petrified trees 
"a-growing," but not the petrified birds or petri- 
fied songs. The geysers of the Yellowstone at 
intervals eject hot water supersaturated with 
carbonate of lime and geyserlte to a height of a 
hundred and fifty feet. This water is carried as 
mist laterally by the wind two or three hundred 
feet, saturating growing trees, gradually convert- 
ing that side to stone, while the off-side has living 
branches. So Jim Bridger's story was not all a 
lie, only partly so. Mr. Tiffany, of Union Square, 
is at this moment working up the petrified trees 
of ZunI and of the Little Colorado Into exquisite 
ornaments. 

' There Is an old maxim of lawyers, " Falsus 
In uno, falsus In omnibus," good enough doctrine 
for the courts, but not the "camp-fire." Does any 
man question the truth of Gil Bias or Don 



460 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN. 

Quixote Are not the Pickwick papers literally 
true? Or what American will permit a bloody 
Britisher to dispute the entire truth of Rip Van 
Winkle, or the Legend of Sleepy Hollow ? As 
well doubt that Tam. O'Shanter saw the dance 
of witches and had a close call with his '' Maofaie " 
at the Bridge of Ayr. The camp-fire of the 
Grand Army of the Republic is only a continua- 
tion of what occurred ''during the war," adding 
wit and romance to relieve the great mental strain 
when each soldier realized that the next day 
might be his last — he did not dread death, but 
mangling, wounds, the hospital and captivity, were 
ever present to his mind, sleeping or waking. 
These fears and apprehensions are now far in the 
past, and no wonder the soldiers of 1861-65 meet 
again at their camp-fires to "swap lies," and should 
they exaggerate their own powers and deeds of 
valor, I know that a sweet angel will blot out the 
sin. In illustration I will venture to give one of a 
thousand Instances which have occurred to me 
personally. 

After the war was over I was stationed In St. 
Louis with absolute command over all the region 



APPENDIX, 461 

west of the Mississippi River to the Rockies, and 
gave much personal attention to the protection of 
the parties engaged in building the Pacific rail- 
roads west from Omaha and Kansas City, the 
country then being infested by the most warlike 
tribes of Indians on the continent, the Sioux, 
Klowas, Arapahos and Cheyennes, who knew that 
the building of these railroads would result In the 
destruction of the buffalo, on whose meat they 
subsisted, and whose hides made their lodges. It 
was, in fact, a continuous warfare, following the 
close of the great Civil War, and though Con- 
gress utterly Ignored the fact, I had in Sheridan 
and Hancock, Terry and Auger, good lieutenants, 
and we won that war as we had previously the 
greater, but not more important one. 

I was seated at my table at St. Louis in the 
office over a clothing store, corner of Washing- 
ton Avenue and Fourth street, absorbed in my 
subject, when I became conscious that a man in 
rough garb, with a broad-brimmed hat, was 
addressing me — I had no sentinel or orderly. He 
grasped my hand familiarly, called me Uncle 
Billy, was delighted to see me in apparent good 



462 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

health, inquired about the family, and finally 
announced that he was "dead broke," and must 
raise $26.50 somehow to get his trunk out of 
pawn, and to reach his home in Ohio. I naturally 
inquired what claim he had on me. Oh ! of course 
he was one of my boys ; he had been a lieutenant 
in the — th Ohio Cavalry ; had fought with me at 
Chattanooga, Knoxville, Atlanta, etc., and being a 
perfect stranger in St. Louis, had come to me as 
his "uncle." He did not remove his hat, which 
made me suspicious ; still he gave correct date 
and place for every event of his regiment, from 
luka, Miss., to Raleigh, N. C. At last he tripped. 
" Don't you remember. General," he said, " the 
Grand Day at Washington when we passed the 

President in review ; that was a glorious day " 

" Yes, my good sir," said I, " I left the — th Ohio at 
Raleigh with Kilpatrick." With hat still on, he 
pondered some minutes, and then, with beaming 
face, " Uncle Billy, it was not all a lie ; I confess I 
lied some, but I was in truth a lieutenant in the 
— th Ohio Cavalry, and have since the war been out 
on the plains as a teamster, and have told the story 
so often that I believed it myself; the story is true 



APPENDIX, 463 

up to Raleigh, but after that It Is fiction. The 
Cheyennes jumped our train near Fort Wallace, 
got the mules, burned the wagons, and left me on 
the ground scalped and dead. The soldiers came 
out from the fort, took me Into the hospital, where 
I was kindly and skillfully treated, and got well, 
but the scalp is gone." With that he removed his 
hat, bowed his head, and the " hair was gone." 

This was the reason why In my presence he 
had not stood *' hat In hand" In the presence of his 
superior officer as he should have done. It so 
happened that I had been to Fort Wallace about 
the time when that train w^as "jumped," and Gen- 
eral A. J. Smith, who also happened to be near by 
at the time, confirmed the general fact. So that 
among us we raised the $26.50 to get his trunk 
out of pawn, and buy a ticket for him to his home 
in Ohio. I have completely forgiven him, and 
have never seen him since. 

A somewhat similar circumstance occurred to 
General Zachary Taylor In 1850 — then President 
of the United States — as told me by one of his 
household. General Taylor was a magnificent 
type of the soldier of his day and generation ; had 



464 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

served in the Regular Army on the frontier con- 
tinuously from 1808 till 1849, when he was elected 
President of the United States chiefly by reason 
of his sturdy manly qualities and his brilliant suc- 
cess at the battle of Buena Vista, Mexico, Febru- 
ary 22, 1847. I^ ^^i^ battle General Taylor, with 
an army of 5,000 volunteers, defended his position 
against 21,000 Mexican regulars, led in person by 
General Santa Anna, President and Commander- 
in-Chief of Mexico. 

When in March, 1849, General Taylor was 
installed in his office of President, he was furi- 
ously assailed for place and office by his old war 
comrades. Among these was a citizen of Missis- 
sippi, who sent on his petition to be made post- 
master of his town, professing to be a " good 
Whig," was indorsed by his neighbors, but rested 
his claims chiefly on the fact that he was in the 
First Mississippi at Buena Vista. He expected 
his appointment by return mail, but not receiving 
it, as is usual, he went to Washington to learn the 
reason why. Obtaining access to the Postmaster- 
General (Collamer, of Vermont), he was simply 
disgusted that in Washington the great and bloody 



APPENDIX, 465 

battle of Buena Vista was held secondary to the 
Whig vote of North Carolina. So our Mis- 
sissippi candidate pushed his way into the White 
House, and laid his claims for office before Presi- 
dent Taylor. He described the ridge at Buena 
Vista projecting toward the road by which the 
Mexicans were approaching in solid phalanx — 
how the first Mississippi formed line to the front, 
then changed to the left to repel the attack ; again 
changed front to the right, and last doubled 
column on the centre, and charged, driving the 
bloody Mexicans off the field. 

General Taylor listened with great patience, as 
was his habit, but when the embryo postmaster 
slackened in his eloquence and gave him a chance, 
he answered : " I used to think I was at the battle 
of Buena Vista myself, but since I have come to 
Washington, I have heard of so many things 
which happened down there, that I am convinced 
I was not there at all." My inference is that the 
self-constituted Mississippi hero never became a 
postmaster for Uncle Sam. And I also hear of 
so many things which happened at Dalton, Re- 
saca, Marietta, Atlanta, that I am inclined to be- 
30 



466 LIFE OF GENERAL WM, T. SHERMAN. 

lieve that the man who marched down to the sea 
was another fellow of the same name as myself. 
Nevertheless, for this very reason I believe in 
modern " camp-fires." They afford opportunities 
for wit and humor, they prick the bubbles of the 
boastful and stamp as genuine the pure gold of 
heroic action and of patient endurance. No man 
can, to-day, go to a camp-fire of any Grand Army 
Post, and successfully boast of deeds not genuine 
without certain exposure. Brothers reared under 
the same roof know and love each other well, but 
a day, or week, or year of war comradeship in the 
same company begets a knowledge of character 
not possible elsewhere. In peace we must ac- 
cept a man on his own word. Not so in war ; the 
truth is then revealed, as it were, by the lightning's 
flash. In the twinkling of an eye, we segregate 
the true from the false, the brave from the timid, 
the earnest from the doubtful. 

There were then (1850) no Grand Army posts ; 
now there are over four thousand, and the amount 
of good and charity done by them cannot be 
measured by dollars and cents. For years after 
the war our men wandered over the land seeking 



APPENDIX. 467 

the employment they had given up to take a 
musket to save the union and government. Of 
course that crisis is now past, but a greater 
danger lurks — the next generation may conclude 
that the wise man stays at home, and leaves the 
fool to take the buffets and kicks of war. This 
danger can best be met by just such an organiza- 
tion as the Grand Army of the Republic, with its 
camp-fires of song and story, to irradiate the 
gloom of ordinary humdrum existence where an 
Auditor of the Treasury would measure a ''life" 
as he would a bushel of spoiled oats. 

All I mean by this paper is to encourage the 
men who *• saved the Union " to be of good 
cheer ; to meet often at camp-fires ; sing their old 
songs ; tell their stories with reasonable exagger- 
ations, and always cultivate the comradeship be- 
gotten of war, the charity which blesses him who 
gives as well as him who receives, and a loyalty 
that ordains that the " penalty for treason is 

death." 

W. T. Sherman. 



468 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 



RESPONSE OF GENERAL SHERMAN. 

TV /TR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN: 
On your bill of fare you will see that Gen- 
eral Sherman's name is written down for the toast 
to the army. I have heard that before. But I 
believe they generally concede to me the privilege 
of skirmishing around a good deal. You show 
the effect of it, too, when you are approaching a 
mass of timber and know some one is lying 
around there loose. Just burst a couple of shells 
in it and you will find out. I burst a couple of 
shells, too, and I found out. I don't intend to mar 
an occasion like this with anything but feelings of 
mutual respect and love. Sometimes it is well to 
stir up things — it increases the interest. Whether 
Portland, Oregon, or Portland, Maine, Is the more 
beautiful city makes no difference, they both be- 
long to us. And it is so with the Army of the 

* Delivered at the 21st Annual Reunion of the Army of the 
Potomac, held at Portland, Me., July 3d and 4th, 1890. 



APPENDIX. 469 

Potomac and the armies of the West. I know 
Gen. Walker too well to find fault with him. He 
thought there were enough here to speak for the 
Western armies, and I merely availed myself of 
the opportunity to tell some anecdotes, some of 
which led to others. 

I have attended a great many of these army 
meetings and talked more at them, perhaps, than 
I ought to have done. In my early days it was 
thought discreditable for an army officer to speak 
ten words in succession. The most you could 
get out of old officers was "Obey orders!" "Mind 
your own business!" But sometimes it is well, 
where you have anything to say, to say it in a 
frank, earnest manner. That is my object, and I 
hope never to give offence, and I hope I have not 
done so to-day at all. I myself have stood on 
yonder White Mountains when the wind was 
blowing a hundred miles an hour, with the house 
chained to the rocks and yet swaying like a ship 
at sea, and from its summit — six thousand feet 
they call it — I could behold this city of Portland 
lying at its feet, a beautiful panorama, and ships 
sailing on the ocean beyond^ all like a miniature 



470 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

map. It was the clearest day, the sergeant told 
me, on that mountain that he had ever seen. That 
was two or three years ago. I have also looked 
for the mountain to-day, but I didn't see it, be- 
cause it was raining, which is a normal condition 
here, I believe. The mayor says you will have a 
bright day to-morrow. He is sensible of the 
kindness of Providence for giving you an occa- 
sional pleasant day. It is the same way In 
Portland, Oreoron. It sometimes drizzles there 
for five months without cessation, and then you 
have lovely weather and you forget about the 
drizzle. But there stands old Mt. Hood, and I 
know it will be there the next time I go out there, 
and I am going to look at it for two weeks. But 
whether it is a better town than this city is not for 
me to determine. 

Now as to the army, gentlemen, that is a very 
old subject. It is written that brave men lived 
before Agamemnon. I don't know whether you 
know when Agamemnon lived. He was no 
acquaintance of mine. And there were armies 
before tlie days of Caesar, well organized armies, 
too. Indeed, you who have read the Bible— I 



APPENDIX, 471 

don't think you read it much up here — you re- 
member the captains of tens, and of hundreds, and 
of thousands — that Is organization, the very basis 
of all mlHtary tactics. The next thing Is grand 
strategy — what is to be done ? Common sense 
applied to the art of war. You have got to do 
something. What Is that something? You have 
got to have It defined In your mind. You can't 
go around asking corporals and sergeants. You 
must make it out in your own mind and ascer- 
tain what you Intend to do. Then the method 
by which it is to be done — tactics — comes in 
merely as a means to an end. You can't handle 
a hundred men loosely scattered. Forrest, the 
rebel general of cavalry, had only two commands 
In his tactics. I don't know whether he could read 
or not, but his tactics consisted In this, "scatter 
like the volunteers," and ''huddle like the regu- 
lars." 

Now the third great principle embraced In the 
art of war, and It has been an art, is now and ever 
will be, just as much as medicine, mechanics, or 
engineering, there must be one mind to direct the 
whole. In all civil governments the many gov- 



472 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

ern the few. In the army one mind governs, but 
behind it is the authority of law. There Is no 
general on this' continent that is independent of 
the law, and the President Is the minister of that 
law. 

Now when a campaign Is laid out, you first 
want a well organized army suitable to the object 
to be done. Next, you must have It so governed 
by tactics, wheeling to right and left, facing 
about so as to fight In every direction. I remem- 
ber on one occasion I rode to a colonel of volun- 
teers, a brave, good man — dead now, poor fellow! 
I said, " Colonel, take two companies and deploy 
them ten paces apart and see what Is In that 
timber." He looked at me as much as to say, 
"What are you talking about?" I said, "Deploy 
your two companies ten paces apart, and do It 
quick !" He looked as dumb as a pig. A little 
major stepped up and said, " General, I under- 
stand you perfectly." I said, "Do it then." Now 
it wasn't that the major was braver, but he knew 
how, and that how was very important. Now 
that Is the only reason why those soldiers who 
were Instructed before the war are better than 



APPENDIX. 473 

those gathered together at the beginning of the 
war. 

Now the army of the United States is not com- 
posed merely of the enlisted men and the officers 
— that is not the army of the United States. 
The Secretary of War has stated properly that 
the whole population is the army. Of them, we 
have about eight millions — a very respectable 
army, gentlemen, comparable with that of Russia 
or any of the great powers of Europe. But of 
course out of this m^ass of men must be taken a 
few like your State troops, making a force say 
double the regular army. The government could, 
at little more than the cost of the present army, 
maintain one hundred thousand men, all-sufficient 
for all the chances of war in the near future. 

We cannot see far ahead, but the art of war 
should be kept pure and simple, and at the base of 
it should be patriotism, that love and devotion to our 
country — to the whole country, not to any little 
piece of it, or to any State because you happen to 
be born there, but to the whole United States. 

And what is the emblem of that power that 
binds our hearts ? It is over your heads now 



474 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T, SHERMAN, 

gentlemen. In these navy pennants you see 
fluttering in the breeze all around your beau- 
tiful city, the birthday of ^ our national inde- 
pendence. But I have seen it upon the high seas. 
I have seen it come out of the water, first a little 
fluttering something with glasses pointed to it. 
Little by little it comes above the horizon, more 
and more your glass tells you there is red and 
there are white and blue. And the ship rises 
above the horizon and you see the gallant-masts, 
and the royals coming up also, and recognize the 
star-spangled banner, and your heart beats with 
a new throbbing worth living for. 

Yes, my friends ; on the vast plains of the West 
I have seen the same thing. As you approach 
one of those litde military posts, perhaps of one 
or two companies, there is the flag. You look 
for it and see it fluttering on the flag-staff, and you 
feel at home just as soon as you recognize the stars 
on the blue field. You and I have seen it on the bat-, 
de-field, and when you have recognized it coming to 
your aid when you have needed aid, oh! how 
beautiful it was ! You all know that feeling. 
Certainly I do, and I can recall a thousand 



APPENDIX. 475 

instances. Not only is it beautiful, but it is grand 
and glorious. 

My friends of the Army of the Potomac, 
remember that whosoever follows yonder flag 
is your brother in arms, brother soldier and citi- 
zen, fellow in all respects, elbow to elbow, and 
all bound to gain the ultimate goal — glory and 
independence. 



476 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMANl 



SHERMAN ON LONGSTREET. 

WHY HE^ REFUSED TO RECOMMEND HIS FRIEND FOR A CABINET 

PI.ACE. 

A N Atlanta (Georgia) dispatch stated that by 
permission of the gentleman to whom it 
was directed, and with approval of the family of 
the late General Sherman, the following letter, 
which was written soon after the election of 
President Harrison, is given to the public : 

" No. 75 West Thirty-first Street, 
"New York, Dec. 21, 1888. 
" To Hon. E. A, Augers Atlanta, Ga. 

"My Dear Sir: I thank you for your good 
letter, of the 20th, about General Longstreet, and 
promptly assure you that I will rejoice at every 
piece of good fortune which may happen to him 
In his old age to give him comfort and honor, but 
I must not be an active agent, because I am 
overloaded with friends who now turn to me. 



APPENDIX. 477 

** Naturally and properly I will not write a 
personal letter to General Harrison, whom I 
know to be an honest, true and able man, per- 
fectly qualified to fulfill the office he has under- 
taken and who should be allowed to choose his 
cabinet as unbiased by outside pressure as in 
selecting his wife. 

*• I hold that any intrusion now would be a 
positive wrong. He has a heavy burden to 
carry during the next four years, and I, of all men, 
must not add to that burden a single ounce. I 
have thought over the subject long and my 
thoughts have crystallized to positive conclusions. 

"The men of mature years who, from 1861 to 
1865, endeavored to disrupt our National Gov- 
ernment should not be entrusted with foreio^n 
legations, with cabinet positions or with seats on 
the Supreme Bench. In all the other offices they 
ought to have a liberal share. I know that Long- 
street would be absolutely true and faithful to 
any office in the gift of this Government, but no 
nation on earth can afford to put a premium on 
treason. But if he will be content to be United 
States Marshal of Georgia, postmaster of Adanta, 



478 LIFE OF GENERAL WM. T. SHERMAN. 

or take any United States appointment within 
the limits of his domicile I will endorse him 
strongly. 

*' I knew him as a cadet and In the old army 
and if every newspaper of the South were to 
charge him with anything dishonest or insincere 
I would resent it as quick as thought. Long- 
street went into the Confederate army from an 
impulse — honest, enthusiastic and positive — and 
when the war was over I know of my own knowl- 
edge that he stood up like a man to regain for 
his whole country the condition of law and pros- 
perity which had been so foolishly and recklessly 
jeopardized by the civil war. General Grant, 
who knew Longstreet even better than I, always 
spoke of him with affection and respect. 

" General Grant as President was most anx- 
ious to draw to his support the live men of the 
South, whose manly valor he had encountered 
and respected, but the old political element de- 
feated his generous intentions. 

" The North to-day is hardly prepared to see 
an ex-Confederate at the head of the War De- 
partment. That Is, the Northern people are law- 



APPENDIX. 



479 



abiding people and will ratify any choice which 
President-elect Harrison shall make, but if I can 
proffer any advice I would personally prefer some 
one of the Union generals, of whom our country 
is full. In any and every other way I will do what 
is possible and probable to recognize and reward 
ex-Confederates of the type of General James 
Longstreet, whose personal friend I claim to have 
constantly been for fifty years, since 1838." 



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